|
SOUTH
ORANGE HISTORICAL & PRESERVATION SOCIETY
PO Box 61, South Orange, NJ 07079
(973) 762-9555
www.sohps.org
Fall 2005
Dear SOHPS Members and Friends,
Greetings-This is our first SOHPS newsletter in
a few years. We want to share with you all that is going on, it is a
very exciting time for SOHPS. This past year we have been reorganizing,
we’ve selected a new president, Brian Hanlon and are looking for ways to
make our organization more interesting and useful to people in South
Orange who enjoy local history and the village’s historic homes.
THE OLD STONE HOUSE
After years of planning, the first work on THE OLD STONE HOUSE, should
begin late fall 2005; using a grant of $153,000 from the State of New
Jersey’s Historic Trust which will be matched by $80,000 in funding from
the Township of South Orange Village. This is the second grant from the
Historic Trust secured by SOHPS for the building. In 1998, we were
awarded a grant of $7,900 to hire an architect to prepare a preservation
plan. David Abramson was hired, who has worked on many historic
buildings throughout the state, and has continued to work on the
project. The work beginning this fall is the first implementation of the
preservation plan, which will stabilize the house, so it will not
continue to deteriorate before a full restoration is begun. The most
important work to be done is to build a new roof so water will stop
coming through the building. There will also be some structural repairs,
cleaning up of the inside and boarding up the windows and doors. Maybe
even the raccoons will be evicted.
The Village is administering the project, with
input by the SOHPS. At this time, they are ready to send bidding
documents out to pre-qualified contractors with previous historic
restoration experience. Once the lowest-priced bid is chosen that
contractor and the Village will come up with a date to begin work.
Completion should take about 4 months and we are hopeful that it can
take place during the winter.
This stabilization will be the result of many
years of concern and hard work to save the circa 1680, Old Stone House;
this has been the main activity of the South Orange Historical and
Preservation Society for the past decade. A section of the building
contains the 2nd oldest, datable structure in all of New Jersey. This it
is a precious relic. We are so pleased that the Township of South Orange
Village has become our ally in restoring the house and look forward to
working with them to find an appropriate public use that interprets the
history of the house, along with the Police Department use they are
proposing.
ACTIVITIES
SOHPS organized the HISTORIC GEMS OF SOUTH ORANGE HOUSE TOUR this past
May, featuring the Prospect Street neighborhood. Interesting houses,
great weather, wonderful volunteers and happy house-tourers all
contributed greatly to the tour’s overwhelming success. This spring the
Montrose Park Historic District Association will once again sponsor the
MONTROSE IN MAY house tour. SOHPS will be running a house tour in a
different neighborhood in May 2007. We will be alternate sponsoring the
house tours with the Montrose Park Historic District Association in the
coming years.
Saturday, November 5,- We will be hosting a bus
tour of Newark. This will include city’s downtown, the Ironbound, Forest
Hill, University Heights, Sacred Heart Cathedral and the Newark Museum.
Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members. Please email
www.sohps.org or call (973) 762-9555 to reserve tickets, or send a check
to:
SOHPS
PO Box 61,
South Orange, NJ
07079.
Saturday, December 4,- We are planning another
trip on to visit historic houses in either Philadelphia or Morristown to
view homes decorated for the holidays. We will be car-pooling, so there
will just be the ticket price for the house museum, plus gas. Details to
follow.
Spring 2006- We are planning to present the
First Annual South Orange Preservation Award in March. Then in May we
will host our annual members meeting, a great time to meet SOHPS
members.
You ideas, suggestions and input are always
welcome; please contact the organization at
http://www.sohps.org or
Contact Us Here.
SOUTH ORANGE HISTORICAL &
PRESERVATION SOCIETY
PO Box 61
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ 07079
|
