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- Princeton University Chapel,
Princeton Borough, Mercer County
- Historic New Bridge Landing Initiative,
River Edge Borough, Bergen County
- Cupola Restoration, Plainfield
City Hall, Plainfield City, Union County
- Restoration of the Somerset County
Court House & Lord Memorial Fountain, Somerville Borough, Somerset County
- Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Farms:
The Quest for an Arts and Crafts Utopia
- Rehabilitation of Bi-County Bridges
No. A601 & A605, Somerset & Hunterdon Counties
- Restoration of the Auditorium
of Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, Atlantic City, Atlantic County
- Black Creek Site Preservation
Effort, Vernon Township, Sussex County
- Gregory A. Marshall
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Princeton
University Chapel
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Princeton Borough, Mercer County
Built
from 1925-1928, the Princeton University Chapel is one of the most significant
buildings on the Princeton University campus. Designed by noted gothic Revival
architect Ralph Adams, Princeton's supervising architect form 1906 - 1929,
this building is arguably one of the finest examples of the Collegiate gothic
styles, and its construction truly transformed the Princeton campus.
The masonry
work included repointing all exterior stonework, the disassembly of limestone
pinnacles; resetting existing pinnacles with stainless steal anchors; replacement
of severely deteriorated limestone units with new units fabricated to match
the original; and selective repairs of spalls, cracks and losses in limestone
with Indiana limestone dutchmen, composite patches, and grouting.
In order
to take advantage of the scaffolding needed for the stone restoration, window
restoration had to be completed within the same two year period. To meet the
schedule, the stained glass restoration work was completed by a team of studios
located in Philadelphia, Boston, Long Island and France. Each window panel
was documented, then carefully removed from its limestone groove, and then
crated and shipped to the studio. Following more documentation, each panel
was then disassembled and cleaned. Broken pieces were repaired or replaced
when the original glass could not be salvaged. The panels were then re-leaded,
glazed with putty, burnished, then shipped back to the Chapel for reinstallation.
The project also included the restoration of over 50 leaded, clear, diamond
light windows.
The project
began in July of 1999 and was completed in December 2001. The restoration
of the 28 stained glass windows of this magnitude in the limited span of two
years may be the largest stained glass restoration program to be completed
in the United States. The total cost of the project was $10 million dollars,
of this $2M was devoted to scaffolding, $4 M to masonry and $4 million to
stained glass. The project utilized a $750,000 grant from the NJ Historic
Trust.
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Project
Team:
Princeton University (Michael E. McKay, General Manager of Plant and Facilities
and David Howell, Project Manager); Ford Farewell Mills and Gatsch, Architects;
Robert Silman Associates, structural engineer; Building and Monument Conservation,
stone consultant; High Reach Conditions Documentation; Julie Sloan, stained
glass consultant; Masonry Preservation Group, general contractor and masonry
contractor; Safway Steel Scaffolds; Old World Stone; Stone Conservation
Craftsman; Femenella & Associates, stained glass managing sub-contractor
Stained
Glass Studios: Art of Glass, Media PA; Serpentino, Needham MA; Studio
Restorations, East Marion, NY; and DePirey International, Allouis, France.
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HIstoric New Bridge Landing Park
Initiative
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River Edge Borough, Bergen County
In
1995, the Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission was established by
the New Jersey Legislature to coordinate and implement governmental and
private development policies and other activities incidental to the preservation
maintenance, restoration and interpretation of the historic riverfront village
surrounding New Bridge, thereby optimizing its educational and recreational
benefit to the public. Soon thereafter, a General Management Plan was prepared,
setting forth the interpretive themes, management objectives and future
planning needs.
The
historic village spans the Hackensack River at the intersection of four
municipalities (River Edge, New Milford, Teaneck and Hackensack) and encompasses
municipal, county and state owned resources. Representatives from each government
entity as well as from the Bergen County Historical Society and the Blauvelt-Demarest
Foundation serve on the Commission. The Commission has successuflly combined
money, expertise, from a multitude of public and private sources to leverage
restoration, land acquisition, and site enhancement and has in a very short
time shown itself to be a model for success.
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Since
1995, the Steuben House, owned by the State, has been transformed by a new
heating system, roof replacement, carpentry repairs, and exterior restoration
supported by archaeological investigation and historical research. The site
has been enhanced with new parking facilities, removal of inappropriate vegetation
and new landscaping. New Milford is working on a streetscape plan for the
property along French Creek and through Bergen County's efforts, the little
swing bridge is about to be restored and an addition is being planned for
the Campbell-Christie house.
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Two
years ago the Steuben House and Historic New Bridge Landing were listed on
Preservation New Jersey's Ten Most Endangered Sites. Through the coordinated
efforts of the Park Commission, the Division of Parks and Forestry, the County
of Bergen, Senator Robert Torricelli who is responsible for securing $1.1
M in a special federal appropriation, Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg, Congressman
Steve Rothman, NJ Assemblywoman Charlotte Vanderwalk, NJ Senator Gerry Cardinale,
and many, many others, this Revolutionary War site has become a proud landmark
of the early settlement of northeastern New Jersey and of the Revolutionary
War.
Initiative Individuals and Organizations:
Steuben House Restoration: Holt Morgan Russell, Architects; Danza,
Inc., Contractors; Hunter Research Consultants, Archaeologists; Division
of Parks and Forestry
Initiative
Partners: River Edge Borough; New Milford Borough; Teaneck Township;
Bergen County; New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division
of Parks and Forestry; Bergen County Historical Society; and Blauvelt-Demarest
Foundation.
Recognized
For Creation of the New Bridge Landing Park Commission: Robert Griffin,
Timothy Adriance, James L. Bellis, R. Lynden Day, Mary Donohue, S. Frederic
Guggenheim, Sandra Loft, Ruth Van Wagoner, Anne Subrizi, Deborah Fisk, Todd
Braisted, Sue Jenkins, Pat Shuber and Adam Strobel of Bergen County, Mark
Pitchell, Kevin Wright, and former Division of Parks and Forestry Director,
Greg Marshall.
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Cupola Restoration,
Plainfield City Hall
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Plainfield City, Union County
Plainfield
City Hall was designed by Peck & Bottomley in 1917 in the Georgian Revival
style and exhibits many of the classically inspired features used in the design
of municipal government buildings of this period. The cupola was constructed
entirely from terra cotta and had suffered from inappropriate maintenance
over the years. While repairs to the building were initiated in 1992, funding
limitations postponed the needed cupola work.
In 1973,
the twelve columns, the dome, lantern, and the interior drum were sealed and
coated with a rubberized cloth glued onto the cracked and spalled terra-cotta.
The cloth was then coated with a proprietary two-part acrylic sealant containing
large embedded particles to simulate the appearance of limestone. Imperceptible
at a distance, this layered coating looked simply dirty; but up close, this
material could not have looked more different than the smooth and glossy surface
of the original off-white terra-cotta. The columns themselves had blistered
beneath the surface and imbedded ferrous anchors and dowels had melted away.
The interior of the columns themselves, which were noted on the drawings to
contain continuous steel supports were actually constructed of clinker fill
and ash. The base of the dome, also believed to contain a metal armature,
was cantilevered from the central drum and rested on the top of the fourteen
foot fluted columns.
Seven
hundred ten (710) new replacement units were fabricated to replace the broken
column sections and the lanterns. Terra cotta was replicated. The dome was
patched and prepared to receive a new lead coated copper roof that would replicate
the segmental panels of the original terra-cotta surface. Lastly, lightning
protection and bird proofing were installed to mitigate storm and reduce the
corrosive effects of roosting birds. This project would never have been realized
were it not for the determination of the City's administration to restore
what is for Plainfield an emblem of their democracy and serves as a symbol
for their municipal seal. The total project cost was $630,000 and partial
funding was provided by the NJ Historic Trust.
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Project
Team:
City of Plainfield: Hon. Albert T. McWilliams, Mayor; Thomas J. Morrison,
III, City Administrator; Patricia Ballard-Fox, Deputy City Administrator;
William Nierstedt, Director, Division of Planning & Community Development;
and Scott Bauman, Principal Planner
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& M Associates, City Engineers; Page Ayres Cowley Architects, LLC, Restoration
Architect; ; Culbertson Restoration, Ltd., Contractor; Boston Valley Terra
Cotta; and Schtiller & Plevy, Metal Roofing.
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Restoration of
the Somerset County Court House
& Lord Memorial Fountain
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Somerville Borough, Somerset County
In
Somerset County, not only does this year's award recognize the fabulous
restoration of the Somerset County Courthouse, Lord Memorial Fountain,
and courthouse grounds, but it also highlights the County's integration
of historic preservation goals into their planning efforts. Somerset was
the first County to develop a substantive and comprehensive re-grant program
for bricks and mortar restoration, from their open space and farmland
preservation funding. Other counties are following their example.
Project
Team:
Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders; Ford Farewell Mills and Gatsch,
Architects; Hall Construction, Contractor (Courthouse Restoration); Fountain
Restoration: Building Conservation Association, Materials consultant;
Princeton Engineering Group, Mechanical & electrical engineering; AMM
Technical, Plumbing; Paragon Restoration, Contractor.
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The Somerset County courthouse
was built between 1907 and 1909. Designed by noted architect James Reily Gordon,
a Texan, who's portfolio includes the Texas Pavilion at the World's Columbian
Exposition, the Bergen County Courthouse and the Arizona Capital. Most famous
as the site for the famous 1927 Halls-Mill murder trial, the rehabilitation
of the courthouse was completed in 1996 and much of the work involved careful
integration of modern day technology and accessibility needs into an historic
space while respecting the historic finishes. Exterior work included the repair
of the main stairs, window repair, structural bracing of the parapet and a
new standing seam, terne-coated stainless steel roof.
The
John Haynes Lord Memorial Fountain was built in 1910 as a monument to John
Haynes Lord by his sister Alliene Lord. Lord was President of the Second National
Bank of Somerville and a prominent town citizen. His sister requested in her
will that a drinking fountain be erected for "man and beast" in memory of
her brother. The fountain was designed by John Russell Pope, who also designed
such prominent Washington buildings and monuments as the Jefferson Memorial,
National Archives Building and the National Gallery of Art, just to name a
few.

Having
fallen into deteriorated condition and no longer functioning, the County wanted
to see this monument once again serve as a drinking fountain. Innovative solutions
were needed to remove the existing plumbing and install new plumbing while
leaving the exterior envelope of the structure intact. Exterior stone was
cleaned and repaired, and the lion's face on the basin side received a newly
carved stone dutchman to replace the portion of his face that had been broken
during an attempt to remove one of the original pipes. According to old newspapers,
the drinking fountain had a bronze lion head plaque that was an exact duplication
of the stone lion on the trough side. This missing plaque had to be recreated
by a bronze sculptor using the broken stone lion head as a model. Bronze chains
were reinstalled between the granite bollards to replicate the original chains.
The marble benches behind the fountain were cleaned and reinstalled. The fountain
restoration totaled $249,082 and took approximately one year to complete.
This investment greatly enhanced the corner of the larger Courthouse Green
and has revived community pride in downtown Somerville.
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Gustav
Stickley's Craftsman Farms: The Quest for an Arts and Crafts
Utopia
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Craftsman
Farms is currently operated under the auspices of The Craftsman Farms Foundation
and is open to the public.
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A 2002 historic preservation award was presented to Mark Alan Hewitt and the
Syracuse University Press for Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Farms: The Quest
for an Arts and Crafts Utopia, an insightful capturing of Stickley and
the Arts and Crafts Utopian movement.
A National
Historic Landmark, Craftsman Farms is located in Parsippany Troy-Hills, Morris
County. It is the place where the ideals of Gustav Stickley came together,
if only for a short period of time, to create a kind of "utopia" as a vehicle
for social change. The book is a critical look at Stickley's philosophy and
how these ideals manifested themselves at Craftsman Farms. Scholarly endeavors,
such as this, enhance our appreciation for the time period and provide greater
context from which to evaluate our past.
Beverly
Brandt's review in theJournal of the Society of Architectural Historians:
"Hewitt weaves together biography with art history, material culture with
literary themes, social history with the analysis of technology and craft.
He does so skillfully in the four chapters that follow, and through it all,
his professional architectural training is also subtly apparent in tone and
approach."
Mark
Alan Hewitt is an architect who's practice in Bernardsville specializes in
historic preservation projects. Mr. Hewitt is a graduate of Yale University
and the University of Pennsylvania and was an NEH Winterthur Research Fellow.
He has taught at New Jersey Institute of technology, Columbia University,
University of Pennsylvania and is currently associated with the Certificate
in Historic Preservation Program at Drew University. Prior works include The
Architect and the American Country Home (1890-1940) and The Architecture
of Mott B. Schmidt.
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Rehabilitation
of Bi-County Bridges No. A601 & A605
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Somerset & Hunterdon Counties
The
Higginsville Road Bridges are two through-truss bridges joined by a common
island pier. Together these bridges form the crossing of the South Branch
of the Raritan River. The area is predominantly rural and agricultural and
the view both toward and from the bridges is quite picturesque. The truss
bridges were built in the late nineteenth century and represent well-preserved
examples of the "American Standard" bridge.
Each
bridge was deemed structurally deficient in load capacity, primarily due to
original member sizes and deterioration of the floor beams and deck. For continued
vehicular use, the bridges had to be strengthened. It was the goal of both
Hunterdon and Somerset County to preserve these bridges and keep them in service.
The
Counties' final solution to strengthening the bridge allowed the original
members to remain in place. Many of the existing deteriorated members were
not replaced, but were considered as structurally non-contributing elements
allowing the historic fabric to be retained.
New supplemental
structural members were used to strengthen the existing trusses rather than
replacing or altering the historic members. The new supplemental members were
specifically chosen not to replicate original members, but to be easily distinguishable
from the original, yet not visibly obtrusive. Tie rods were chosen since they
offer the least visual impact. Abutments and wingwalls were repaired.
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In
the past decade, the general public has demonstrated a great fondness and
attachment for its bridges. Eric Deloney, Chief of the American Historic
Engineering Record, summarizes this affection very succinctly: "Old bridges
may represent past technologies, yet they provide a connection with that
vanishing past by softening its collision with the future."
This
project serves as a model collaborative effort. As single lane truss bridges,
sources of funding to rehabilitate were limited. Both counties worked together
to nominate the site to the New Jersey Register and secure a matching grant
from the NJ Historic Trust. The total cost for this project came to $1,395,810
including a grant from the NJ Historic Trust of $588,750 and financial commitments
from both Hunterdon and Somerset Counties in the amount of $403,530.
Project
Team:
Somerset County Board of Freeholders; Hunterdon County Board of Freeholders;
Richard Groholski, John Glenn and James Martin, County Engineers; Keller
& Kirkpatrick; Herb G. Githens, Architects & Planners; Mary Delaney Krugman
Associates, Preservation Consultant; IEW Construction Group, General Contractor.
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Restoration
of the Auditorium, Atlantic City Convention Hall
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Atlantic
City, Atlantic County
With
the building of the new Convention Center in Atlantic City, preservationists
feared for the fate of the National Historic Landmark Convention Hall on the
Boardwalk. Built in 1929, it is one of the last survivors of the early twentieth
century Atlantic City silhouette. At the time of its dedication, it could
seat every resident in Atlantic City.
The decision
by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to step in and create a
new future for the building was a courageous one. From the architect's perspective:
"the challenges were considerable. The Auditorium had a flat floor exhibition
space 456 feet long and 310 feet wide, under a clear span barrel vault that
rises 130 feet above the floor, acclaimed as "the largest enclosed clear span
space in the world". Any preservation treatments would involve considerable
investments, and a scale of operations and techniques not usually associated
with the "interior" restoration of one space."
Historically,
lighting had been provided by an innovative system that made use of the 196,000
square feet of acoustical tile clad ceiling as a reflector, creating dazzling
light displays. This highlighted an impressive array of architectural finishes
and colors and a dramatic proscenium and stage curtain assembly standing several
stories high. Unfortunately, during the Depression, this was replaced by pendant
light schemes that punched through the ceiling tiles. Gradually the architectural
beauty of the building was concealed by the glare of harsh overhead lights,
layers of inappropriate paints, and a severely damaged, grime-covered and
water-stained ceiling.
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The
damaged asbestos-contaminated ceiling was replaced with a perforated metal
ceiling reproducing the articulation of the original tiles. This allowed
the recreation of elaborate lighting effects on the reflective ceiling.
The balconies were replaced by a stand-alone seating bowl, distinct from
the original fabric, meeting current life-safety and barrier-free access
code requirements, with a musicians' balcony providing a "scenic overlook"
from which to view the immense space, a distinctive feature of the original
configuration. New seats were installed and a number of the old were restored
for display. Restorative treatments recreated the rich color palette of
the original decorative scheme.
The
$100 million rehabilitation - to transform this obsolete building into a
modern sports and entertainment center - qualified for historic investment
tax credits. Succinctly summarized by Sharon Park, architect for the National
Park Service, "thanks to this excellent rehabilitation, its literal place
along the boardwalk is assured for many years to come".
When
Atlantic City Convention Hall was built, the city fathers who placed the
state seals around the Hall, had a grand vision of a National attraction.
With this project, that vision has been renewed. What more can one say about
a building that has an internally lighted stained glass globe above the
stage with the letters "WPG" - for World's Play Ground"? Thanks to this
project, Atlantic City's Convention hall is once again a splendid palace
for the spectacular.
Project
Team:
Historic Boardwalk Hall, LLC, Owner; New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority;
Ewing Cole Cherry Brott, Prime Architect/Engineer; Watson & Henry Associates,
Historic Preservation Architect/Engineer; Rosser International, Sports Consultant,
Tishman Construction Corporation, Construction Manager; Evergreene Paint
Studios, Inc., Historic Preservation Contractor.
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Black
Creek Site Preservation Effort
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Vernon
Township, Sussex County
More
than 150 years following the first campaign to save George Washington's
Mount Vernon plantation, the bulk of historic preservation is still being
undertaken by volunteers. The community effort to protect the Black Creek
Archaeological site was achieved through the efforts of non-paid professionals
and local advocates.
The
Black Creek Native American site was identified in the early 90's by a bridge
replacement project along Maple Grange Road in Vernon Township. For almost
a decade, field archaeologist Rick Patterson had been meticulously surface
collecting and plotting the locations of hundreds of artifacts that would
surface each year after plowing in the north and south fields of this 40
acre site. The artifacts confirmed that the site was in recurrent use for
the last ten thousand years. It is also some of the last land occupied by
the Lenape before their expulsion from New Jersey.
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The
award nomination for this effort was made by Mr. Everett Paladini, who related
how his "wife (Jessica) worked day and night for more than one year to inform
and educate people about the Black Creek Site. She wrote hundreds of letters,
made thousands of local and out-of-state phone calls at our own expense,
and spent thousands of hours putting together seminars, social gatherings,
information sessions, and cultural events to reach as many people in the
community, state, and country that she could, informing them of the importance
of the Black Creek Site. She persevered and never lost hope that one day
the site would be listed. That day finally arrived on April 1, 2002."
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The site
was nominated for listing on the New Jersey and National Registers in 2001.
Opposition to listing this site on the Registers came from township officials
who had acquired this 40 acres as part of a larger 182-acre parcel. The land
was purchased by the township with an intent to create a recreational complex.
Construction of the complex would have destroyed a good portion of the site
and with it, the history that we value and learn from.
The
Lenni Lenape were enlisted to try and stop the desecration of the site. On
the morning when all parties were to appear in court, township bulldozers
were dispatched to clear the site. Alerted to the attempt to disturb the site,
a Superior Court judge placed an injunction against physical harm on the site.
This order allowed the nomination to go forward through the state's designation
process.
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Thanks
to the relentless persistence of a group of local advocates, the preservation
community has a new constituent group - the Lenni-Lenape Indians of New
Jersey. Prior to Black Creek, little was known about this community; they
had been virtually silent as spokesmen for their ancestral past.. This preservation
effort has provided a new dimension to how we, as cultural resource experts,
evaluate pre-historic archaeological sites. Through this process we witnessed
a collision between the traditional culture of the Lenape and the archaeological
science that here-to-for would have been enough to resolve a land use conflict.
Certainly this effort has given us some new consideration for what might
- in the future - be considered appropriate treatment.
Involved
Personnel:
- Piper
Rudnick, LLP, for hundreds of hours of pro-bono legal work, and specifically
to Attorney Greg Werkheiser leading the legal, political, and public relations
effort to ensure the protection of the site
- The
Lenni-Lenape Indians of New Jersey for their commitment to preserve our
collective human heritage and their contributions to NJ's better understanding
of the history of its indigenous peoples, specifically to Urie Ridgeway,
Earl Evans and Tribal Chief Mark Gould.
- Jessica
Paladini, for her tireless commitment to bringing an ethic of historic preservation
to her community.
- Rick
Patterson, for his ten-year commitment to this site, his due diligence in
seeing it protected and for this enthusiasm in never getting tired of telling
us about it.
- Archaeological
consultants to the Lenape, lead by Cara Blume and including Rick Affleck
and William Sandy for their willingness to volunteer their professional
services
- Matt
Brown of the Bergen Record and Barbara Maneri of the Vernon News-Advertiser
North for their extensive and balanced coverage that has brought public
attention to the preservation process.
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Gregory
A. Marshall
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Every so often, someone
surfaces who's contributions to the advancement of historic preservation and
the preservation of historic sites in New Jersey, is so deserving of recognition
that an award is given to one individual. This year, that person is Gregory
A. Marshall.
Mr. Marshall
served the State of New Jersey in his capacity as the Director of the Division
of Parks & Forestry for 18 years. As the State Park Service grew in acreage,
so too did the number of historic sites it managed, but more importantly,
began to interpret as such. At last count, the Division owns and oversees
57 historic sites. And under Mr. Marshall's leadership, the sites continued
to be upgraded, and more staff for interpretation and visitor services were
hired.
Under
his leadership, many of New Jersey's historic sites were restored, receiving
accolades from the preservation community and with some initiatives even receiving
State and national recognition as well.
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As
many have attested, Mr. Marshall was well known for his participation in
the many Friends Group organizations, attending board meetings, committee
meetings, public events, and visiting with staff, at any time of day, week
or evening. He was truly interested, attentively listening and providing
encouragement for the not so easy to overcome obstacles.
One
of the key projects in which he took a leadership role was highlighting
the role of New Jersey in the American Revolution. Under Mr. Marshall's
direction, the Division of Parks and Forestry, the first organization to
focus on the Revolution as the 225th anniversary approached, developed a
marketing campaign called the Crossroads of the American Revolution,
producing a guide to American Revolutionary War sites, a driving tour brochure,
a poster and a lecture series. This initiative gave way to the 225th Anniversary
Celebration Commission and became the catalyst for the Crossroads National
Heritage Area study.
Greg
Marshall would be the first to point out that these achievements were due
to the dedication and focused efforts of the many others involved in these
endeavors. However, it was Greg who demonstrated the vision coupled with
the ability to strategize, to set goals and accomplish them despite insufficient
resources in funding and staffing and in spite of the challenges posed by
bureaucracy.
The
historic preservation award for "Significant contributions to the advancement
of historic preservation and preservation of historic resources in New Jersey"
was presented to Mr. Gregory A. Marshall.
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