Dear Friends of the Water Works,
Here is the complete copy of James Ahearn's editorial in today's Record.  As
he asks the question at the end, "What say you?"  WWC is requesting that all
those who support preserving this wonderful site, allowing the public to see
it, and opening the doors to greater discussion - as well as the doors to the
site -and searching for a full blown preservation solution that enriches our
environment and preserves our historic heritage - please drop a quick e-mail
to the RECORD's Editorial Page and so state your support :
[log in to unmask]
Please Copy it to WWC at: [log in to unmask]

(You may even copy and paste some of the above language to make it even
easier)
Thank you for all you help and support.  United, we can preserve our heritage
both environmental and historical.
All the best,
Maggie Harrer
President, WWC, Inc.

Let's not rush to tear down water works
The Record, Wednesday, April 10, 2002

By JAMES AHEARN

I DROVE OVER to Oradell Sunday to see the old Hackensack Water Co. water
works. Pat Schuber wants to demolish most of it. The oldest building, dating
to 1882, would be reduced to the first-floor walls, which would enclose a
garden. An immense, antique, Allis-Chalmers steam-powered pump, Old No. 7,
would be turned into a motionless, ceremonial icon of the Industrial Age.
Schuber is the Bergen County executive. He has been fussing over what to do
with the water works for a decade. It was in 1992 that the water company, now
United Water Technologies, offered to give the old pump house, adjoining
buildings, and the 15 acres they occupied to the county. In addition, the
company volunteered to donate 31 adjoining acres of woodland and marsh on
either side of the Hackensack River.
It was a good deal. The company had installed new technology to purify the
water it delivered to consumers in Bergen and Hudson counties. It no longer
needed the old equipment. For the county, short of open space, to receive 46
centrally located acres free was like manna from heaven. The gift was
accepted.
But there were problems. Some of the waterworks buildings were said to be in
poor shape. The whole complex sat on a low island in the river, subject to
flooding. Two years ago Tropical Storm Floyd dumped five feet of water on the
island.
An organization was formed advocating restoration and preservation of the
buildings. The organization is called the Water Works Conservancy. It set
about soliciting grants. Schuber was afraid that this effort would run short,
and that the county would get stuck with a big bill. He asked the borough of
Oradell to serve as a financial backstop to the conservancy. At first borough
officials said yes. Then there was an election, and the new borough
government said no.
All of this palaver fades when you stand in front of the water works and look
at it. It is quite a remarkable relic, actually. It is big. There are several
interconnected buildings, stretching 650 feet along Elm Street in Oradell.
Five were pump houses, built at various times in the late 19th and early 20
centuries. All are walled in handsome red brick, with window frames painted
now-peeling hunter green and with roofs of gray slate.
The impression is of a harmonious whole. Adjoining the pump houses to the
north are filtration structures, two of comparatively recent vintage, also
built of red brick.
I couldn't get inside. The structures are surrounded by chain-link fence. I
did see broken windows here and there, missing slates on the roofs, brick in
need of repointing, and industrial junk in corners. But I came away from my
visit thinking that the water works could be a jewel. It reminded me of the
old textile mills of Lowell, Mass., now turned into a national historical
park, except that the water works were better designed to begin with.
When the Water Works Conservancy argued that the complex was historically
significant, I had my doubts. But Maggie Harrer, board president of the
organization, made a good case in an Op-Ed Page article ("Battle Over Van
Buskirk Island in Oradell," March 14, 2002) in The Record.
She said that the complex "exemplifies the early 20th century development of
a pure municipal water supply, crucial to a nation whose citizens drank water
with foul taste, foul odor, and bacteria from untreated sewage dumped into
rivers. In 1901, diarrhea, dysentery, and typhoid were rampant.
"Most of this remarkable complex of buildings and equipment predates World
War I and survives with remarkable integrity. The site is the only intact
facility of its kind in the nation."
In February the state Historic Sites Council rejected an application by the
county to demolish most of the buildings. The vote was 9 to 0. Council
members were indignant at the very idea. Turning the water works into a sort
of Roman ruin would be "total theater," said the chairman, Alan B. Buchan.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation also weighed in, saying the
water works was truly worthy of preservation.
The council vote is subject to review by the commissioner of the state
Department of Environmental Protection, Bradley Campbell, who is to rule by
late June.
I would counsel against such fast action. Schuber is leaving office. He wants
the issue decided before he departs. But he has had a decade to do something,
and nothing has been done. This is now a matter that should be resolved with
input from the candidates to succeed him, from the county freeholders, and
from the public. The future of the water works should be discussed in the
fall election campaign.
Whatever the decision, it should not depend on the acquiescence or financial
backing of one town, Oradell. The site is and ought to be a county facility,
whether it is restored or cut down.
Either way, the county can well afford to pay the bills, with help from the
feds, the state, and private donors. As a first step, the public ought to be
invited to see what is at stake here. The chain-link gates should be opened,
the pump-house doors swung wide. If some structures are truly too decrepit
for public visitation, let the county rig some interim repairs.
What say you?

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