(rshsdepot) Jersey City, NJ (H&M Powerhouse)

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_home.com>]

This old Powerhouse

Jersey City landmark receives national recognition, protection

By: Prescott Tolk
Reporter staff writer December 23, 2001
The Jersey City Reporter

(links below)

The Port Authority can huff and puff, but it will not be able to blow the
Powerhouse down.

After leading a two-year preservation campaign for the steel and brick
structure, the Jersey City Landmark Conservancy declared a victory in early
December when the National Register of Historic Places included the First
Street edifice in its list of national landmarks, the 26th Jersey City
structure to receive this status. As a result, the Port Authority is legally
bound to preserve the building in its original form.

In turn, members of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy can rest assured
that the structure will not be demolished, a fear that initially inspired
the campaign.


"With all the major development going on, it's important to keep remnants of
the past," said John Gomez, president of the Jersey City Landmarks
Conservancy.

Standing in the middle of waterfront development on First Street, the
Powerhouse once provided steam to run the entire subway system that
connected New York to New Jersey. Built and operated by the Hudson &
Manhattan Railroad system, the goliath structure served the entire network
of commuting trains on both sides of the Hudson River from it the time it
was erected in 1908 until it was closed in 1929. It became a storage house
for railroad equipment thereafter, but was completely abandoned when the
Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH) took over in 1962.

Currently, the ownership of the building is split between the Port Authority
and Jersey City.

With a steel frame and an exterior that boasts ornamental bricks two feet
wide, the Powerhouse was built to last forever. Similarly, its architectural
beauty was immediately recognized when Teddy Roosevelt officially marked its
opening. Designed by the same firm that built the esteemed New York Public
Library in the heart of midtown Manhattan, the Powerhouse draws from a
combination of architectural styles. Referred to as "Industrial
Romaneseque," the castle-like building mixes a classical framework with
industrial-age features and a few Gothic touches.

But while the structure was intended to last more than a thousand years, a
half-century of neglect has battered the interior beauty, rendering it a
virtual ghost of an engineering palace. Aside from the mechanical
infrastructure that made its name legitimate, the insides were adorned with
porcelain tiles, marble steps, and copper fixtures.

If the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy gets what it wants, the decrepit
insides will be refurbished and landscaped for a new role in Jersey City.

Rumors of a plan to demolish the structure in 1999 inspired a group of
Jersey City residents to form the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy.
Immediately, the 12-member organization sent in an application to the State
Historic Preservation Office that would protect it from a destiny of rubble.
Although it received approval from this 13-member board, the deal fell
through when the request was rejected by the commissioner of the Department
of Environmental Protection a year and a half later.

In the meantime, the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy conducted an
aggressive marketing campaign aimed at creating awareness of the Powerhouse
and its history. The campaign gradually paid off as archeological
newsletters, national preservation associations and the mainstream media
began to pay tribute to the turn-of-the-century relic.

Even though the state had formally rejected the application, it sent it to
the National Register of Historic Places out of protocol. It is rare that
the national organization would accept something that was rejected on a
state level, Gomez said. However, within two months he received the good
news.

"The National Register listing for the Powerhouse is our biggest success,"
Gomez said. "It's lent some stature to us. We have a real credential now."

For over a year, the Port Authority has been conducting a study on the best
use for the property and the costs associated with those plans. Now that the
building has been listed under the prestigious national registry of historic
landmarks, there are certain restrictions as to what can be done to the
landmark. "We objected to it on a state level because of some possible
restrictions to using that building," said Dan Bledsoe, a spokesman for the
Port Authority.

In short, the Port Authority can not alter the structure.

Gomez said that is a relief, citing a former $62 million project to build an
office building on top of the existing structure that the Port Authority was
considering. "They wanted to have the option of altering the building in any
way they saw fit," Gomez said.

According to Bledsoe, there is no scheduled date for the study of the
property to end. "Once the draft is complete, we'll share that with the
city," Bledsoe said. "It will list three specific uses and the costs
associated with those uses." Bledsoe said he could not provide information
about who was doing the study and how it was being conducted. Although
Jersey City is a co-owner of the building, the Port Authority has conducted
the study without involving city officials.

Bledsoe added, "We would not be limited to the options of the study."

When the time comes, the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy is eager to throw
out its own suggestions. Gomez hopes the Powerhouse will serve as an art
museum, history museum, or performing arts center. "We respect that it needs
to make some kind of money for the owners, but we'd like to see some kind of
cultural aspect come out of it."

He added that he would not object to more commercial ventures, such as
creating retail or residential space. Along that same vane, Leon Yost, a
member of the preservation group, suggested the possibility of turning it
into a convention center for Jersey City.

Either way, Gomez is convinced that the landmark status automatically makes
it a lucrative entity for Jersey City. "The more tourists we get in here,
the more they spend on local businesses," he said. "Preservation is a
money-making machine."

Powerhouse Web site:
http://www.jerseycityhistory.net/index.html

http://www.jerseycityhistory.net/thumbnails.html  (thumbnail photos - with
links to larger shots)

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