Council: Lampkin House Repairs Too Costly

Historically hard times collided with a proposal to save a historic home Monday, as City Council members demurred at the expense.

“I like the idea,” City Council President Annie McWilliams said after a presentation on using $92,500 in city funds toward acquisition of the 18th century Lampkin House. “I think it’s a great concept.”

But McWilliams said, “The problem is not the concept, the problem is the dollars. There are other things we need to be prioritizing.”

She cited “unfortunate timing,” saying things might have been different five or six years ago.

McWilliams and council members Adrian Mapp, Bridget Rivers and Vera Greaves opposed putting the matter up for a vote on Aug. 15, while Rebecca Williams endorsed the proposal wholeheartedly, calling her colleagues’ reluctance “shortsighted.” Councilman Cory Storch suggested moving it to the agenda and if it was voted down, to put it back in the hands of “interested citizens.” Councilman William Reid was absent.

A number of citizens spoke in favor of the project in public comment before a presentation by Planning Director Bill Nierstedt and City Preservationist Gail Hunton.

Pat Turner Kavanaugh said the Planning Board had endorsed it twice and said supporters were asking for the $92,500 to make it possible to apply for matching Union County funds. She said as long as the house was privately owned, advocates could not do fundraising.

Kavanaugh said a friend of the late owner, Virginia Terrell, claimed the house on Terrill Road had been a stop on the Underground Railroad, though it could not be immediately verified.

Douglas DeFreitas said he also knew Terrell and recounted tales of ghosts in three-cornered hats on the premises. Once restored, the house could attract ghost hunters, he said.

Bill Michelson urged council support for the acquisition and stabilization of the house and barn, saying, “The time to do it may not last very long.”

“I know it is a hard sell in these economic times,” Nancy Piwowar said, but noted the Lampkin House was named one of the 10 most endangered historic sites in 2009 by Preservation New Jersey.

Other residents found the proposal indefensible with all the city’s pressing needs.

Owen Fletcher thanked Kavanaugh for her efforts and said historic preservation is very important to Plainfield, but cited current funding gaps and said, “We just can’t afford it right now.”

Lavelle Jones said her initial reaction to the house was that it was a “dilapidated, decrepit eyesore” and doubted it could be refurbished. Jones called for fixing roads and creating part-time jobs for young people before spending money on fixing the house. But Charles Weltner called $92,000 “a tiny amount of money” for a 1700s house and said he thought it would be embarrassing to tell future generations “we spent it on potholes.”

Two young people countered with concerns about present-day gun violence over historic landmarks and a Coolidge Avenue resident said her neighbors were worried about a proposed nature trail connected to Lampkin House that would bring people behind their homes.

When his turn came, Nierstedt enthusiastically described the historic importance of the property as well as the broader scope of the project that would include the adjacent 30-acre retention basin as well as a six-acre working farm. But he reminded the council that they did not “have to go down the full road” at once.

Nierstedt said Union County would most likely allow in-kind services to be charged against the $92,500, bringing the city’s outlay down by $15,000 or more. As for the match in Union County Open Space funds, he said Plainfield had never received a grant since the tax was established, making approval more likely.

Failure to move on the project “will result in demolition of the house and its history,” he said.

But among council concerns, Storch asked whether the Lampkin House proposal would end up competing with the Drake House Museum for funding. Mapp asked what “strings” would come with a county grant and Hunton said typically the property could not later be sold.

Mapp said he believes in historic preservation, but said there were “too many unknowns” in the proposal, which could run from $1.3 to $1.6 million for all repairs.

“In my mind it’s cost-prohibitive,” he said, noting he has constituents who complain their roads “have not been paved in 50 years.”

Despite the lack of a consensus Monday to move forward on acquiring the house, Mapp suggested it could be reconsidered “if supporters of this project can find a way to assure dollars can be found” without taxpayers having to shoulder the cost.

--Bernice