Sites have been on state's endangered list as far back
as 1995
Five of New Jersey's threatened and nationally significant historic places Thursday received an infusion of renewed attention by historic preservation activists who want to preserve and find new uses for the sites.
The landmarks are Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook, Greystone Park State Psychiatric Hospital in Parsippany-Troy Hills, Bell Labs in Holmdel, the Pennsylvania Railroad Harsimus Stem Embankment in Jersey City, and Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson.
The sites have been on Preservation New Jersey's list of 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites going back as far as 1995.
Representatives of Trenton-based Preservation New Jersey (PNJ), a statewide nonprofit historic preservation advocacy organization and people who want to breath new life into the sites, gathered at the Newark Public Library to review the present condition and status of the sites, plan strategies and combine forces in an effort to develop solutions to preserve what they described as irreplaceable historic places.''
Joining PNJ were activists with the Coalition to Save Bell Labs; the Embankment Preservation Coalition; Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium; Preserve Greystone and the Sandy Hook Foundation
"Greystone' historic buildings and extensive green
space are facing their greatest risk yet, with steps taken by the previous state
administration toward marketing the site with a commercial real estate firm,"
said Adam McGovern of Preserve Greystone. "But moves like the preservation task
force proposed by Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) are cause for optimism, backed up
by citizen vigilance to make sure that Greystone's many stakeholders will have a
meaningful voice."
Betsy Barrett of the Sandy Hook Foundation said deterioration is continuing at 33 significant but unoccupied buildings at Fort Hancock, a National Historic Landmark located in the Gateway National Recreation Area.
Barrett said the deterioration "calls for critical preservation and stabilization, including roofs, windows, masonry and interior structural supports.
"An early National Park Service estimate for this work
was $6 million,'' Barrett said. "Public opposition, poor press efforts, and the
failure to gain financial support for a public/private partnership to
rehabilitate the buildings for education, office and hospitality use killed that
preservation project in 2009."
The PNJ's 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites program spotlights historic resources like these that are in danger of being lost. PNJ believes that highlighting them acknowledges their importance to the heritage of the state and draws attention to the predicaments that endanger their survival and the survival of all historic resources. PNJ aims to attract new perspectives and ideas to sites in need of creative solutions.
"Bringing together the leadership of the active organizations working to preserve these five landmarks previously named among New Jersey's 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites is a new approach to building stronger collaborations through the 10 Most Endangered program," said PNJ president, Madison Mayor Anna Holden.
One model collaborative effort represented at the meeting is the Coalition to Save Bell Labs, a group of organizations that include the American Institute of Architects' New Jersey Chapter, PNJ, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and DOCOMOMO-NY/Tri-State, which works to preserve landmarks of the recent past.
In briefing activists on the preservation status of the
Bell Labs site, Michael Calafati, the coalition's leader and AIA-NJ Historic
Resources Committee chairman, said that "a redevelopment plan for the iconic
Bell Labs site, proposed by Lakewood-based Somerset Development, is currently
being reviewed by a subcommittee appointed by the Holmdel Township
Committee.
"The mid-century modern landmark building has been empty for nearly three years while a new use is being considered, but indications from the township suggest that progress is being made in negotiations between the present owner, Somerset Development and the township," Calafati said.
Brian LoPinto of Friends of Hinchliffe said, "In the grip of political stalemate and inaction, the historic Hinchliffe Stadium has undergone ‘demolition by neglect' for well over a decade. He said stabilization of historic fabric, let alone maintenance, has been ignored.
In November, Paterson voters overwhelmingly supported a non-binding referendum of $15 million dollars to restore two major historic facilities for Paterson youth, including Hinchliffe, which is one of only three remaining stadiums in the country that significantly served the Negro Leagues.
LoPinto said the Paterson School District is opposed even to naming the stadium a municipal landmark. "We look forward to development of a conditions assessment report, the basic first stage of a preservation plan," he said.
PNJ leaders pointed to many historic places previously listed among the 10 Most Endangered Sites that have been saved, preserved and brought new life.
In addition, the groups reviewed the successes of efforts to preserve and re-purpose historic sites nationwide. Cited were Fort Baker on San Francisco Bay, now the popular National Park Service-owned and privately managed Cavallo Point Lodge at the Golden Gate, and the High Line in New York City, a historic railroad structure similar to Jersey City's Harsimus railroad embankment that has found new life as a popular linear park.
Stephen Gucciardo, president of the Embankment
Preservation Coalition, said, "We have had great success in building local and
regional awareness and support for the Harsimus Embankment project. Ultimately
it has been alliances with the municipality, the public, and other preservation
groups that have allowed us to sustain a four-year legal battle, which is
currently on hold while we attempt to reach a settlement via mediation."
Visit http://www.preservationnj.org/site/ExpEng/index.php?/10most to view the 2009 listing of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites, and the previous years' lists dating to 1995. The 2010 list will be announced in May.
— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM