Naugle House Preservation to Move Forward

The  of the  back in October, after more than six years of negotiations. But that was only half the battle.

“Now that we’ve acquired [the Naugle property] we have to work with our Historic Preservation Committee to not only rehabilitate it to its historic status, but then figure out how to make it cost-effective for the taxpayers of Fair Lawn, so that it remains affordable,” councilman Ed Trawinski said at the time. “Everybody wants to save historic sites, very few people ever come up with plans as to what to do with them.”

Council took the first step in the preservation process last week when it signed off on an architectural firm to conduct the site's preservation plan.

Per the recommendation of the Historic Preservation Commission, council consented Tuesday to select Princeton-based HMR Architects to form the plan, which involves assessing the house's condition, determining the required restoration work needed and suggesting uses for the property.

Once the plan is complete, the Historic Preservation Commission will use it to apply for additional grants to perform the restoration recommendations.

The borough will match a $19,500 county grant to pay HMR's $38,500 design pricetag, Historic Preservation Commission secretary Ray Richter said.

"In the past, [HMR] seems to have done more smaller projects that are more comparable to the work we need on the Naugle House," Richter said, explaining the commission's selection. "They’ve also done many local jobs in the area."

Council agreed that for now the plan should include only the preservation blueprint for the house itself and not any recommendations on the surrounding landscape, which could cost an additional $15,000. 

"I feel at this time it’s premature to do anything other than the base plan on the Naugle House itself," Richter said in a presentation to council. "Then down the road if it looks like we need to do any landscape work or archaeological work that we look for additional grants and get more proposals and re-evaluate at that time."

HMR will get to work on the plan -- which they anticipate will take six to nine months -- once the county signs off on it and releases its promised half of the project funds.

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For a great historical look at the Naugle House through the years, check out Rebecca Abma's "."