February 25, 2004

By Jason Fink

It's a refrain that has been heard often and seldom followed up with action, but Jersey City officials insist this time it's for real: Restoration of the historic Apple Tree House has begun.

Work crews were on the roof of the Academy Street house yesterday patching holes and were clearing debris from the grounds, and the City Council is set to introduce an ordinance tonight that will free up $500,000 to begin the process of saving the dilapidated building from the brink of collapse.

There's some immediate things that need to be done to get it rolling," said Stan H. Eason, a spokesman for Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham. "We have to hire a historical architect and get some things fixed so it doesn't deteriorate altogether."

The city has owned the 260-year-old building for more than four years, and preservation advocates - not to mention nearly every elected official - have waged highly public campaigns to restore it, but little has been done so far.

Preservationists are hoping all that is about to change and that the goal of turning the Revolutionary War landmark into a museum is now within reach.

According to Guy Catrillo, who works in the city Planning Division and has been the point man on the Apple Tree House for years, the city is about to send out a request for public bids to take over the project and open it as a museum and education center within two years.

Catrillo said restoration of the house has already begun and several city officials said an application will be filed to have the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which will qualify it for a host of federal grants.

Erected around 1740, the Apple Tree House was the home of the Van Wagenen family, who were among the city's earliest European settlers. It got its name because of a meeting between Gen. George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette that is said to have taken place beneath an apple tree on the property during the Revolutionary War.

The Van Wagenens sold the house in 1947 to local undertaker Lawrence Quinn, who used it as a funeral home until 1985. Ten years later, Provident Bank bought the house and four years after that, in 1999, the city purchased it for $450,000.

Since then, the house has been much discussed and most agree that a museum or educational center would be the best use for it, but until now very little has been done.

If the council appropriates the $500,000 out of the capital budget, a historic preservation firm will be hired to begin restoration work and the city will begin applying for grants in earnest.

Catrillo said he believes an additional $500,000 will be forthcoming from the state Green Acres program. The city funds had been set aside to build an annex to City Hall but those plans have been shelved for the moment, said Councilman Mariano Vega.

Vega, who has been a vocal advocate for rehabilitating the house, criticized the Cunningham administration for not being more aggressive in pursuing grants.

"Everybody agrees that the Apple Tree House should be done," Vega said yesterday. "I think a smarter way to do it is through the grant process."

Both Eason and Catrillo said plenty of money will come through grants, especially if the city gets the house listed on the state and national registries. Catrillo also said he would consider corporate sponsorship and expressed hope that the television program "This Old House" would chronicle the restoration.

Alluding to the political tensions that divide Cunningham and a majority of the council, Catrillo said the project is an opportunity to unite behind a common goal.

"It will not be a political battle," he said. "It will be a legacy for the mayor and the council."

In other business at tonight's council meeting, members will vote on the new contract with the fire officers union, which provides for 3.5 percent annual raises for the next four years. Some council members had expressed opposition to the new contracts, saying they would have preferred a two-year deal, but union officials would not budge.

Three tax abatements that generated a swell of opposition at the last meeting are back on the agenda for introduction tonight. Those ordinances have been changed to bar developers from making their first payments in lieu of real estate taxes until construction on their the project is complete, rather than immediately upon approval.

Jason Fink covers Jersey City. He can be reached at jfink@jjournal.com.