TRENTON – In recognition of National Preservation Month, Preservation New Jersey (PNJ) announced its annual list of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in New Jersey, at a virtual press conference May 18. PNJ was joined by the advocates for this year’s endangered historic places via a Zoom rally to support New Jersey’s threatened cultural and architectural heritage.
According to a release, the Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Cape May, and Cape May Point, were included in the organization’s list.
The 10 Most Endangered Historic Places Program spotlights irreplaceable historic, architectural, cultural, and archeological resources in New Jersey that are in imminent danger of being lost. The act of listing these resources acknowledges their importance to the heritage of New Jersey and draws attention to the predicaments that endanger their survival and the survival of historic resources statewide. The list, generated from nominations by the public, aims to attract new perspectives and ideas to sites in desperate need of creative solutions.
Selections to the 10 Most Endangered list are based on three criteria:
· Historic significance and architectural integrity,
· The critical nature of the threat identified
· The likelihood that inclusion on the list will have a positive impact on efforts to protect the resource
Several challenges face properties on this year’s endangered sites list, including neglect and deferred maintenance, threats incurred by redevelopment and new construction, difficulties raising adequate historic preservation funding, and the need for creative adaptive reuse proposals.
Two of the sites on this year’s list are entire municipalities, highlighting the immense variation in the local tools available for preservation in New Jersey’s cities and municipalities. The list also includes two religious sites that provide important histories of New Jersey’s African American communities, and point to the challenges faced by congregations since the 2018 New Jersey Supreme Court decision to prevent New Jersey Historic Trust grants to religious structures.
Preservation New Jersey proudly points to many properties previously listed among the 10 Most Endangered that have now been saved and preserved or rehabilitated and have once again become character-defining and economy-boosting assets to New Jersey’s communities. As this year’s list is announced, the organization is encouraged by stories like the Wallisch Homestead, included on the 2012 10 most list, and the Krueger-Scott Mansion, now “Makerhood,” which was included on the 2011 10 most list and recently hosted Preservation New Jersey’s Virtual Annual Meeting. Advocates for these sites and many more across the state have moved mountains since their listing on the 10 most list and continue to leverage the publicity and attention brought by the listing to bring these resources back to a useful and productive life.
Although PNJ’s 10 most endangered properties list is published once per year, the fight for the preservation of our historic and cultural resources is daily.
This year, in addition to the 10 most announcement, PNJ has added several educational programs to our summer schedule to further support current and former 10 most site advocates as they work to preserve the sites. The first two sessions in June will focus on “Communicating the Value of Preservation” and an “Introduction to Public Relations for Historic Sites.”
