Here’s How To Add A Hoboken Landmark To Historic List – Patch.com

HOBOKEN, NJ — Do you know of a historic site in Hoboken or elsewhere in New Jersey that’s falling down, or is in danger of being destroyed? Each year, the group Preservation New Jersey releases a list of the 10 most endangered historic places in New Jersey, and they’re seeking nominations.

Landmarks in Hoboken have appeared among the 10 places on the list before, including last year, when the 1904 Records Storage Building at the Lackawanna Railroad rail yard made the list.

Months after the site made the list, the NJ Department of Community Affairs decided that the structure would be demolished for safety reasons (see some of the public records here). However, officials said they may save parts of it to reconstruct elsewhere. The red brick building harkening back to English Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. (See a prior Patch story on the Records Storage Building here.)

The statewide group explained the qualifications this week: “Do you know of a historic place that is threatened due to neglect and deferred maintenance, threats incurred by redevelopment and new construction, or difficulties raising adequate historic preservation funding? The 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in NJ program spotlights irreplaceable historic, architectural, cultural, and archaeological resources in New Jersey that are in imminent danger of being lost.”

Use the nomination form LINKED HERE. Nominations are due Friday.

From last year’s list

Here are a few of the other sites that were on the list last year:

Old Stone House, South Orange, Essex County, located behind the South Orange police station. (See photo above.) Historians estimate that Dutch settlers built the farmhouse between 1666 and 1680 when they arrived in Newark. The original house was 1.5 stories with a native, rubble stone foundation. Renovations in 1877 and 1896 transformed the farmhouse into a Queen Anne, shingle-style mansion. The Township of South Orange Village has owned the Old Stone House since 1953. It was vacated in 1983 and has suffered significant water damage and deterioration.
The Cranford Roundhouse, Cranford, Union County. A century-old railroad building erected between 1913 and 1915, it’s only one of three surviving roundhouses in the state. Roundhouses were used in the first half of the 1900s because it was difficult for big steam locomotives to turn around. Trains would head into a stall in the roundhouse and turned around by a turntable in order to depart. The group believes the building may be sold to a private developers, and has given suggestions for adaptive reuse. Read a Patch article on the Cranford Roundhouse here.
Elks Hall, New Brunswick, Middlesex County. Elks Lodge 324, on Livingston Avenue adjacent to the newly revitalized Cultural Arts District in downtown New Brunswick. Dedicated in 1926, Elks Hall is an example of classical revival architecture designed by local Highland Park architect Alexander Merchant. The site also boasts a historic “Elk Sculpture” created by Laura Gardin Fraser, a prominent early 20th-Century female sculptor. Elks Hall has played an important role in the civic and community life of New Brunswick for nearly a century.
The Fort Lee Post Office, Fort Lee, Bergen County. It was constructed as a part of the New Deal program in 1938. Like many federal projects of that era, it was designed in the colonial revival style, honoring the architecture of the nation’s founding. The building also boasts four large-scale murals by Henry Schnakenberg depicting the city’s history. Today the building stands as a reminder of Fort Lee’s roots, but it also faces the threat of demolition. As part of the City’s redevelopment efforts, the US Postal Service agreed to relocate to a new facility. The city plans to demolish the building and replace it with a passive park. Many post office buildings have been successfully adaptively reused as offices, restaurants, and cultural or community spaces.

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