RON KARAFIN/Courier-Post Businesses line the White Horse Pike in Haddon Township although some people believe them to be in Oaklyn.

By BARBARA S. ROTHSCHILD
Courier-Post Staff

If Haddon Township is suffering from an identity crisis, it surely isn't letting that get in the way of moving purposefully into the future.

Just ask Jane Clark why she's lived in her West Walnut Street home for 55 years, and she'll tell you she's been able to have an active life in the township. As she progressed from newlywed to mother to empty nester to senior citizen, Clark had everything she needed just a few minutes away.

"It's a great place to live. The township has excellent schools and shopping. There are nice eating places, we have a lot of good friends, and we enjoy the township's bus trips (for seniors)," she said.

Just 2.8 square miles in area, the 137-year-old township is made up of three distinct geographic areas separated from each other by several other towns and major thoroughfares.

Total population 1990:14,837 2000:14,651 Change: -1.25% Asian population 1990: 148 2000: 294 Change: +98.6% Black population 1990: 122 2000: 173 Change: +41.8% Hispanic population 1990: 145 2000: 226 Change: +55.9% Source: U.S. Census Bureau

When the township was created out of pre-Revolutionary Newton Township, it was much larger. But Haddonfield, Collingswood, Haddon Heights, Audubon, Oaklyn and Woodlynne all eventually seceded, leaving the remaining sections of Haddon Township looking a bit like scattered pieces of a puzzle.

But whether they live in Westmont, West Collingswood Extension or West Collingswood Heights, Haddon Township's 14,651 residents can look forward to changes aimed at enhancing their quality of life - in a community where they already enjoy a track record of stability.

Even with its long history, Haddon Township has had but two mayors - William G. Rohrer, who served from 1951 to 1987, and his successor, the current mayor, William Park. Prior to 1951, a board of commissioners ran the township but there was no mayor.

Rohrer left the township funds to build the public library, which is named for him. Two of the township's three rent-subsidized apartment buildings for seniors bear his name - Rohrer Towers I and II. There's also the Rohrer Building, an office building at Haddon and Crystal Lake avenues, that recalls Rohrer's love of business. His daughter, Linda, counts educational scholarships and recreation fields among the things he fought to establish in the township.

All these parts of Rohrer's legacy represent various ways in which the township continues to grow and thrive:

•With a nearly 21 percent increase in the number of children ages 5 to 14 over the past decade, it has been important for the public library to offer traditional and new ways of augmenting education. In addition to its books, periodicals, videos and music holdings, the library is about to launch a new, user-friendly, Windows-based computer system. The library received five new computers with Internet access for patrons this month.

•More than 600 township students in grades 7 through 12 participate in soccer, football, field hockey and other sports year-round. According to the Haddon Township Athletic Association, sports registrations have more than tripled over the last 20 years.

To relieve the overcrowding and overuse of the existing fields, now the township plans to construct one or two more fields on the 25.8-acre MacArthur Tract on MacArthur Boulevard.

•There is up to a five-year waiting list for senior- citizen residency at Rohrer Towers I and II and their newest counterpart in the township, Coles Landing. The three buildings have a total of 258 units in a township where seniors age 60 and over make up nearly 25 percent of the population.

But senior services are expanding, said township Senior Citizen Coordinator Betty Band. She hopes to find a way to provide a computer at each of the senior complexes to ensure that the township's seniors are as connected to the rest of the world as its younger residents are.

•There are plans to revitalize seven economic redevelopment areas throughout the township. With continued planning, business opportunities could become as accessible to residents and nearby neighbors as William G. Rohrer was while sitting at his desk in the lobby of the former First Peoples Bank.

The main branch of First Peoples, which Rohrer founded in 1956, was across the street from the library in a building now operated by First Union.

``You can bring a lot of high-profile businesses to the community and develop in a way that will best serve the community and stimulate the business districts,'' said current Mayor Park.

The housing market has already gained momentum. Houses in the township, most of them several or more decades old, are selling briskly and increasing in value, Realtors report, with the average price between $115,000 to $125, 000. In 1990, the average price of a home was about $100, 000.

The township's desirability as a place to live is indicated by a proposal to build upscale apartments on the former site of Russell Cast Stone on Albertson Avenue. About 65 units would rent for around $1,200 a month.

Still, in a county as diverse as Camden in which blacks represent 18 percent of the population, Hispanics nearly 10 percent and Asians almost 4 percent, according to the 2000 census, the township lags far behind in the number of minorities who live there.

Despite increases in the township's minority population over the past decade, blacks comprises only 1.2 percent of the total; Hispanics, 1.5 percent; and Asians, 2 percent.