County Funds $2.57 Million in Historic Preservation

The Morris County freeholders agreed Wednesday to spend  $2.57 million for 29 historic preservation projects around the county

The board of the county’s Historical Preservation Trust Fund had received applications worth $3.43 million, board chairman Larry Fast told the freeholders.

Among the projects receiving funds are: A construction grant to the Morristown and Morris Township Library for exterior renovation, $251,950; a roof replacement project for the Lake Drive School, Mountain Lakes, $261,000; a preservation plan for the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, Madison, $34,640; contract documents for the Butler Railroad Station, $10,080; and a preservation plan for the J. Smith Richardson History House, Parsippany, $22,400.

The preservation funds comes a from .25 percent of the open space tax collected by the county. Voters in a referendum approved the addition of historic preservation as an approved use for open space funds, without increasing the amount of tax collected. The freeholders have reduced the annual open space tax to 1.5  cents per $100 of assessed value over the past three years.

Fast said the trust fund has now supported 185 projects at 66 sites, worth $12.95 million. The sites are located in 31 of the county’s 39 municipalities.

Freeholder John Murphy, a Morris Township resident, said  the use of open space funds gives an opportunity for some older, built-out towns like Morristown to get a benefit from the trust find. Those towns have less open space to preserve, he said, but have many historic sites.

Fast said one unusual project funded this year was $89,500  for restoration of Steam Locomotive 4039 owned by the Whippany Railway Museum.

The locomotive was built as a steam engine in 1942 and converted to an oil-fired engine in 1966.  It is listed on he National and New Jersey registers  of historic places.

Fast said the trust fund was supporting historic tourism with the grant. The railway museum has 25,000 visitors from April to October, he said.

The other grants, for construction: Boonton Holmes Public Library, porch stabilization, $246,360; First Presbyterian Church of Boonton, stairs and windows, $36,266; Community of St. John’s Baptist, Mendham Township, roof repair, $182,266; Church of the Redeemer parish house, Morristown, Phase 1 exterior restoration, $206,608; Presbyterian Church in Morristown, chimney repairs, $24,560; Women’s Club of Morristown, Phase 2B exterior restoration, $140,000; former Baptist Church, Mount Olive, Phase 1B exterior restoration, $115, 800; Stanhope United Methodist Church, window repair, Netcong, $20,000; Glenburn House, Phase 2B rehabilitation, Riverdale, $174,402; Ford-Faesch House, Phase 3 exterior restoration, Rockaway Township, $241,840; Morris Canal Lock 2 east, walls and gates, Wharton, $286,450.

Non-construction grants: Boonton Holmes Public Library, contract documents, $22,840; L’Ecole Kinnelon Museum, preservation plan, $25,200; Acorn Hall, Morristown, contract documents, $10,960 and landscape plan, $8,000; Presbyterian Church in Morristown, contract documents, $43,600; St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Morristown, $16,000; Former Baptist Church, Mount Olive, contract documents, $12,400; Seward House, register nomination, Mount Olive, $8,880; Mount Tabor Historic District, master plan, Parsippany, $17,600; Glenburn House, landscape study, Riverdale, $8,000; King Homestead Museum, contract documents, Roxbury, $48,560; and Succasunna Historic District, Phase II register nomination, $5,000.