Catelli Brothers slaughterhouse in Shrewsbury demolished

The former Catelli Brothers slaughterhouse on Route 35 in Shrewsbury, the target of protests from animal activists, will soon be just mound of crushed concrete.

Workers from Nacirema Demolition and Recycling, Inc. in Matawan started to rip down the building on Monday. It will make way for a Sunrise Senior Living assisted living center.

"There wasn't a comfortable place for a slaughterhouse in town," said Mayor Donald W. Burden. "The neighbors were complaining about it, the noise levels and so on. I am sure the company just found after a while there wasn't a place for it either so they sold out."

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The building had long been an abattoir, dating back to the town's roots as a farming community. But the area became a magnet for development and now neighbors include a beauty salon, a real estate office, and less than a half-mile away, high-end retailers in The Grove shopping center.

Collingswood-based Catelli had owned the property since 1995. It previously was owned by Marx Bros. Meats Inc., a family-run business that started in the early 1900s, but filed for bankruptcy in 1991. At its peak, Marx Bros. Meats, a butcher and abattoir, supplied local supermarkets, restaurants and customers around Monmouth County.

Property records show the building was built in 1956.

Catelli landed in the spotlight in 2014 when the U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended its operations after receiving an undercover video from the Humane Society. The video, posted on YouTube, showed still-conscious calves hanging upside down on a conveyor belt, and a calf being prodded while struggling to walk. The animal rights group said the actions violated the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1978, which requires the slaughtering industry to treat animals humanely.

The company said it took steps to comply. But its plant also became home to vigils from NJ Farm Animal Save, an animal rights group that promotes a vegan lifestyle.

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Over a year ago, Sunrise Assisted Living received approval to build a three-story healthcare facility with 111 beds.

"That is a good use of that property," Burden said. "The assisted living medical care facilities in Shrewsbury are just booming."

Medical professionals are turning to Shrewsbury with its proximity to Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank and Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch and its available space and parking.

"It just seems like Shrewsbury is evolving into this hot little area for the development of medical facilities," Burden said.

Have you seen a construction project in Monmouth or Ocean counties and wanted to know what was going there? Contact business writer David P. Willis dwillis@gannettnj.com, and we will look into it for a future column.

David P. Willis: 732-643-4039; dwillis@gannettnj.com; facebook.com/dpwillis732.