GOOD NEWS!! Help for NPLC's Plan to nominate 6 Newark Schools...

The Star Ledger reported back in May, and it was confirmed by an official release from Trenton, that NPLC's application for $18,000 to help nominate six local schools to the National Register of Historic Places is among 58 projects that were approved last week by the Historic Trust board. The applications now go before the Garden State Historic Trust this week, and then go to the State Legislature for final approval. The list – which totals $10 million and includes three other preservation projects in Newark – already has the backing of the Christie administration.

The Landmarks Committee will use the funds toward the total cost of $25,000 to nominate six significant public schools for official recognition. Ulana Zakalak, NPLC's architectural historian, has already begun work on the overall introduction to the document, which will be financed partly by money from NPLC's treasury. No timetable has been announced for the State funding, but this nomination is one of our top priorities for this year.

The specific schools to be nominated are still being debated. NPLC's board approved a list of six some time ago, but some of them are affected by rapidly changing plans within the school system. Late last month President Liz Del Tufo and the board agreed that, if the State grant doesn’t materialize, we should go ahead on our own with an initial three schools: Weequahic High, Warren Street, and Franklin. Weequahic High’s very active alumni association has offered to help sponsor a nomination. The future of Warren Street is uncertain, and it was vacated recently by American History High School because of serious deterioration. Franklin has been a favorite of NPLC's board, but hasn’t been found eligible yet by the State Historic Preservation Office.

A number of other schools have considered through extensive inspections and discussions, but the fates of some of them seem to be changing almost every month. NPLC's hope is to have at least six schools representing different ages, designs, neighborhoods, and educational history.

Also on the new list of pending grants announced the last week April: 

• Capital improvements to the old South Park Presbyterian Church at Broad Street and Lincoln Park, $300,000. Most of the neoclassical 1855 structure was destroyed in a fire years ago, but the Lincoln Park-Coast development group hopes the remaining towers can be restored, and a new African-American music museum can be built at the site. 

• Planning for saving and adapting the ruins of the old Essex County Jail at Newark and New Streets, $50,000, NPLC would work on this with University Heights Science Park, which has tried to have the old structures razed for new development but has been pressed by the State Historic Preservation Office to explore other possibilities. A design competition may be part of the effort. 

• Upgrading of the northern end of Branch Brook Park, which is mostly in Belleville, $34,612. Jim Lecky, director of the Branch Brook Park Alliance (and one of NPLC’s newest trustees), says his group and Essex County are trying to clear out inappropriate and harmful trees and shrubbery, and rest ore the nation’s oldest county park to the original vision of the Olmsted brothers and other designers. 

The South Park work would be a capital restoration grant. The other three Newark projects would receive “Site Management“ grants, which can cover architectural and engineering, feasibility studies, tourism plans, and nominations.

Through the years the N.J. Historic Trust has assisted many projects in Newark, including the Essex County Courthouse, Eberhardt Hall at NJIT, the Krueger Mansion, and a number of noteworthy churches.

The nomination of a group of schools has been a priority of our committee for several years. At present only four school buildings are on the historic registers, mainly because of special histories or locations within historic districts. NPLC has consulted with past and present officials of the public schools on which buildings should get special recognition.

The Historic Trust, which has funds from past bond issues, has awarded more than $600 million in more than 600 projects in the last 20 years. The primary benefit of being on Sate and National Registers, is that it qualifies the structures for matching grants to assist in restoration costs.