Council Discusses Lampkin House, Special Signs

Plainfield pride was invoked at Monday's City Council meeting in support of winning teams and the city's historic legacy.

Pat Turner Kavanaugh, president of the Friends of Sleepy Hollow civic group, asked the governing body's support for a plan to place signs around the city honoring outstanding Plainfield High School teams, while others sought help to stabililize the Lampkin House, a Colonial-era residence that is the city's oldest structure.

Turner Kavanaugh said the proposed 36- by 36-inch signs would have narrow strips at the bottom commemorating achievements such as the Plainfield High School basketball team winning state championships or the high school's Junior State chapter being "number one in the country." Each sign would cost $160 and between six and 10 would be erected through donations at no cost to the city.

Turner Kavanaugh said Martin Cox, a former school board member, also wanted the signs also to say that Plainfield had the first public school in the nation in 1847.

FOSH and others have already made donations and Turner Kavanaugh invited support from individual council members and the public. Councilman Adrian Mapp pledged to pay for a sign and other council members offered to contribute toward the cost of signs. Checks made out to FOSH may be sent to FOSH, P.O. Box 2711, Plainfield, NJ 07062.

The Lampkin House issue was more complicated. All that was being asked of the council was to authorize application for a $63,750 grant from the Union County Open Space, Recreation & Historic Preservation Trust Fund, but council members questioned what future costs might be incurred as well. The house was on Preservation New Jersey's 2009 10 Most Endangered Sites and needs to be stabilized to prevent further deterioration.

Planning Director Bill Nierstedt said the city hopes a "friends of" Lampkin House group will be established, but in answer to Mapp, he said it does not exist yet. Councilman Cory Storch expressed concern that the Lampkin House would end up competing with the city's Drake House Museum. He sought assurances that a group would be able to raise funds for Lampkin House. Nierstedt said he had contacted the Dolbeer family, relatives of  a Revolutionary War militia man who owned the house from 1796 to 1832, and that they had pledged support.

The plan also includes offering the current owner a land swap of the site for some city-owned parcels for development of one- and two-family homes, but Nierstedt could not guarantee the swap would go through.

The matter was put on the agenda for the July 15 regular council meeting, but may still require more discussion.

Later, city historian Nancy Piwowar said there was a rise in interest in the Revolutionary War era that was producing "cultural tourism" and "heritage tourism" that could bring visitors to Plainfield.

Historic Preservation Commission Chairwoman Sandy Gurshman thanked the council for moving the matter to the agenda and said a side benefit was that it gives access to a nature preserve.

The regular City Council meeting is 8 p.m. July 15 in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave.

--Bernice