PASCACK VALLEY AREA, N.J.—Readers, our part of Bergen County history is alive and well!
The Westwood Historic Preservation Commission, Emerson resident and Councilwoman Jill McGuire, and Montvale School No. 2 Senior Housing are among a distinguished field of recipients of 2019 Bergen County Historic Preservation Awards, bestowed May 9.
The awards, hosted by the Bergen County Department of Parks, the Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, and the Historic Preservation Advisory Board, were presented by the Bergen County Executive, members of the Board of Chosen Freeholders, and the Board in celebration of 2019 National Preservation Month.
Since 1982, more than 320 awards have been presented to community members in honor of outstanding historic preservation achievements by individuals, students, organizations, and businesses.
These awards were created to encourage preservation, restoration, and adaptive use of Bergen County’s valuable and irreplaceable historic buildings, houses, schools, houses of worship, cemeteries, and other historic sites.
Nine 2019 Historic Preservation Awards were given, covering restoration, continuing preservation and use, adaptive use, preservation education, and preservation leadership.
Westwood on the move
The Westwood Historic Preservation Commission won for preservation education in recognition of its dedication to educating the local community about the value of historic preservation, and for the creation of the self-guided tour map and brochure of Westwood’s central Business District.
Lauren Letizia, chair of the Westwood Historic Preservation Commission, told Pascack Press Westwood HPC is excited to have been recognized for its 2018 self-guided walking tour, available through the borough website.
The application was submitted by HPC secretary Alena Bohacova.
Letizia said that since 2016 she’s made it a priority to focus the commission’s work on educating the public about the prevalence and value of historic architecture throughout Westwood.
The commission’s first walking tour features 29 properties built 1870–1950.
“To continue our educational initiative, the commission is working on implementing an honorific historic properties recognition program as part of the Celebrate Westwood 125th Anniversary Year festivities and plans to deign subsequent walking tours,” she said.
Last summer, the Westwood Train Station was nominated to the State Register of Historic Places for its significance in the development of the borough as a 20th century commuter suburb and its distinctive architectural characteristics.
The project was spearheaded by the Westwood HPC. Letizia singled out member David Hohmann and consultant Gregory Dietrich for their contributions since the start of the project.
According to Letizia, the HPC regularly updates its inventory of historic sites within the borough. The list includes more than 115 properties deemed significant in their architectural style or historic significance.
Many of these properties are located in well-preserved neighborhood pockets such as those around Bogert Pond in the Goodwin Park neighborhood, Terrace Drive, Westwood Avenue, and the Central Business District, and Jefferson Avenue (the only borough-designated Historic District).
Also included on the list are several railroad bridges and Old Hook Cemetery.
Emerson Borough Hall shines
Just to the south, Letizia also worked on the team that last spring landed a state Historic Preservation Office Certification of Eligibility for Emerson Borough Hall to be listed in the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.
As with Westwood, this would be Emerson’s first such addition to either register.
That nomination process is proceeding, haltingly, against an interesting backdrop: Emerson Borough Hall, dating to 1938–39 and housing priceless federal murals, does not meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for police departments, is undersized, and has been called “almost functionally obsolete.”
It’s subject to extensive renovation or demolition, and the previous administration had said it wanted voters to weigh in on what to do with the site without having it first secure historic status.
(The topic has been eclipsed this year by the related and controversial downtown redevelopment project, a mixed-use block called Emerson Station.)
McGuire, who won her 2019 Bergen County Historic Preservation Award for Preservation Leadership, is former chair of the Emerson Historic Preservation Committee.
Her award recognizes her efforts to educate the community and local government on the preservation of Emerson’s historic sites, including the WPA-era Borough Hall.
Since her work on preservation for Borough Hall—conducted as a private citizen—McGuire was approved as councilwoman to fill the seat vacated in the fall when Danielle DiPaola was elected mayor, swept in on a campaign against overdevelopment.
(McGuire, a Republican, is running for election outright, as is fellow Republican Nicole Argenzia and Democrats Brian Downing and Patricia L. Dinallo.)
McGuire accepted the honor “on behalf of all the special sites, structures and buildings of Emerson that contribute to the unique narrative of my hometown, and all who join me in celebrating Emerson’s rich history.”
She added, “Emerson has quite a bit of change going on but progress doesn’t have to mean erasing that narrative. It is my hope that my efforts can inspire the community to further embrace what makes Emerson unique and special—what sets it apart from being or becoming Anytown, USA.”
She called for incorporating “special structures” such as the WPA Borough Hall, the DeBaun House, and the train station into Emerson’s future.
Montvale a class act
In bestowing the Bergen County Historic Preservation Award for Adaptive Use to Montvale School No. 2 Senior Housing, the county honored the adaptive restoration of Montvale’s early 20th century Renaissance Revival school building.
Built in 1909 with a 1927 addition, it was unused for many years until purchased in 2016 by Bergen County’s United Way. With its partner Madeline Housing Partners LLC, they developed a plan for its preservation.
The historic school building was re-purposed and transformed into Senior Affordable Housing, and dedicated on June 8, 2018.
Richard Vorhees, who had arranged to have Montvale’s HPC formed some 25 years ago when he served on the council, told Pascack Press he’s proud of what the HPC has accomplished.
“It’s something that was long time in coming: not the award, but the fact that the school was not torn down for housing, and the developer insisted on retaining the building and modifying it to provide for senior housing,” he said.
The property had been left vacant for a number of years. Offers to tear it down and build on the land were not accepted.
“I’d almost given up on the idea of saving it. Then I got a call from the chairman of the Planning Board. He said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, Dick, but we just talked to United Way of Bergen County and the net result was that they’d be interested in taking a look at it—but only if they could save the building,’” Vorhees recalled.
“They’re telling us something nobody else was telling us,” he emphasized.
He called the adaptive reuse “an unexpected win for our HPC and the community at large,” adding that a number of people on the commission went to school in that building.
“It was a successful undertaking and one of our members thought it’d be a real good idea to file an application for the award for adaptive use. They accepted it and the rest is history,” he said.
But there is more to the story. The next step, according to Vorhees, is to encourage the Planning Board and governing body to designate the property a historic landmark.
If that happens, it would be Montvale’s tenth. It’s a goal by the end of this year. He said there are other candidates for such distinction, though homeowners, concerned by restrictions, have been slow to pursue it.
Perhaps they needn’t worry: “Every building that we’ve designated hasn’t been converted to another use. Most of them were residential structures and continue to be. But being recognized as historic—that’s icing on the cake,” Vorhees said.
Other county standouts
The award for restoration went to the Sammartino/Becton House, Rutherford.
Continuing Preservation and Use went to the Borough of Fort Lee Memorial Municipal Building; the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, Tenafly; the French Burying Ground Transfer of Ownership to New Milford; and the founders of the Northwest Bergen History Coalition.
The Claire Tholl Award for Lifetime Achievement in Historic Preservation went to Tom Meyers of Fort Lee.
May was National Preservation Month. This annual celebration originated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1971 and is celebrated nationwide by local preservation groups, parks, state and county preservation offices, and historical societies.
“This Place Matters!” is its national campaign that encourages people to celebrate the places that are meaningful to them and to their communities. It is an opportunity to showcase preservation achievements in cities, towns, parks and by individuals, organizations, and governments.