State Historic Trust recommendation assures funding

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The state Historic Trust Board of Trustees Wednesday recommended 58 historic preservation projects for funding, assuring them a share of more than $10 million in state aid.

The projects will be ratified by the Garden State Preservation Trust on May 4 and then move on to the Legislature for approval.

“The Historic Trust continues to make great strides in preserving New Jersey’s important cultural and historic sites,” Gov. Chris Christie said. “These grant awards are indicative of our comprehensive efforts to grow the Garden State economy by spurring investment, generating jobs and attracting tourism opportunities to these areas.”

The New Jersey Historic Trust administers the grants from the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund. The trust fund was created to promote historic preservation and encourage joint preservation efforts by the public and private sectors. It funds both capital projects and planning projects for historic preservation across the state.

“Since 1990, the Historic Trust has awarded hundreds of grants to worthy preservation projects in every county in the state,” state Community Affairs Commissioner Lori Grifa said. “The investment reflected by these matching grants will not only save our significant history but create jobs, encourage economic growth and attract tourism. Buildings and landmarks that might have otherwise faded are now actively used and contributing to our state’s economy.”

The 2010 aid is devoted to historic sites management grants and preservation repair grants. The grants support non-construction activities such as conditions assessments, engineering reports, construction documents, archaeology investigations, use feasibility studies and heritage tourism initiatives. They also support 'bricks and mortar' repair, restoration and rehabilitation of historic resources for continued active use.

The maximum award is $50,000 for planning and $750,000 for capital construction. Special initiatives this year highlighted industrial resources and projects associated with open space or farmland preservation.

When the recommended projects are approved by the Garden State Preservation Trust and the Legislature, the trust will have awarded more than $135 million in 697 matching grants since 1990. Funding for the latest grants is dedicated from voter-approved referendums in 2007 and 2009, which continues the decade-long funding under the Garden State Preservation Trust, an initiative to preserve open space, farmland and historic sites.

Here are the capital preservation grants:

• Hudson County Courthouse, Jersey City, $750,000
• St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, New Brunswick, $750,000
• Christian Union Congregational Church, Montclair, $750,000
• Ocean City Life Saving Station, Ocean City, $750,000
• New Milford Plant/Hackensack Water Co., Oradell, $704,384
• South Orange Village Hall, South Orange, $669,000
• Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, Morris Townshio, $659,400
• Hinchliffe Stadium, Paterson, $500,000
• Presbyterian Church of Bound Brook, Bound Brook, $400,000
• South Park Presbyterian Church, Newark, $300,000
• Morristown Library, Morristown, $279,737
• Kirkpatrick Chapel at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, $254,927
• Hangar No. 1, Lower Township, $251,340
• Hudson Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, Jersey City, $250,000
• Church of the Redeemer, Morristown, $250,000
• SUM Great Falls Power Plant, Paterson, $180,000
• Kennedy-Martin-Stelle Farmsted, Bernards, $176,483
• Millville Bank, Millville, $150,000
• Ramsayburg Homestead, Knowlton, $150,000
• Cumberland National Bank, Bridgeton, $150,000
• Case Dvoor Farmsted, Raritan Township, $150,000
• Metlar/Knapp/Bodin House, Piscataway, $150,000
• Oswald J. Nitscheke House, Kenilworth, $150,000
• James and Ann Whitall House, National Park, $136,254
• Amzi Stephens Homestead, Hackettstown, $112,985
• Surveyor General’s Office, Perth Amboy, $110,635
• First Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth, $79,242
• Linwood Borough School No. 1, Linwood, $47,199
• Morris Canal Inclined Plane 9 West, Greenwich, $43,198

Here are the site management grants:

• West Bergen Historic District, Jersey City, $50,000
• Roseberry House, Phillipsburg, $50,000
• Essex County Jail, Newark, $50,000
• Paulus Hook Park, Jersey City, $50,000
• Greystone, Parsippany-Troy Hills, $50,000
• Westmont Theatre, Haddon Township, $50,000
• Solitude House, High Bridge, $50,000
• Old Paterson Post Office, Paterson $50,000
• Grover Cleveland Birthplace, Caldwell, $49,500
• Jacobus Vanderveer House, Bedminster, $48,750
• Joseph Cooper House, Camden, $48,000
• Abbott Farm National Historic Landmark, Hamilton-Bordentown, $46,875
• Branch Brook Park, Newark-Belleville, $34,612
• Calwalader Park, Trenton, $33,750
• Rancocas Lyceum, Westampton, $30,690
• Christoffel Vought Farmsted, Clinton, $30,000
• Morris Canal, Lopatcong-Greenwich, $29,831
• Elizabeth and Gershom Frazee House, Scotch Plains, $29,126
• Fort Hancock Barracks Building 22, Sandy Hook, $23,210
• Paulsdale, Mount Laurel, $20,000
• Louis I. Kahn Trenton Bath House and Day Camp, Ewing, $18,348
• Newark Public Schools, Newark, $18,000
• Pleasant Valley School, John Phillips House, Hopewell, $16,875
• Bridgeton City Hall, Bridgeton, $15,000
• Hunt’s Mill and Mulligan Quarry, Clinton, $14,429
• Lock Tender’s House, Lock 4 West, Morris Canal, Allamuchy, $12,000
• Sunnyside Farm, Franklin (Hunterdon), $12,000
• Quakertown Methodist Episcopal Church, Franklin (Hunterdon), $7,500
• Ledgewood Historic District, Roxbury, $7,500

For more information on the New Jersey Historic Trust, call (609) 984-0473, or log on to http://www.njht.org/.