The group that spearheaded preservation of the Old School building
wants the Township Committee to restore the building’s bell to its
original function.
By:Brian Shappell
CRANBURY – The
group that spearheaded preserva
tion of the Old School building
wants the Township Committee to
restore the building’s bell to its
original func
tion.
William
L. Bunting Jr., president of Cran
bury Landmarks Inc., is calling the
bell an important piece of the build
ing’s history that should be re
tained.
“I
grew up with that bell and I think it
was great,” Mr. Bunting said
Thursday. “It is a very important
part of the town’s historic charac
ter.”
The
more than 100-year-old building is
undergoing renovations to convert
the school building into municipal
offices. The township began the
process of taking jurisdiction over
the building and moving the munic
ipal office to the site in
1980.
The
committee decided to bring the
building up to current building
codes and standards set by the fed
eral Americans with Disabilities
Act. The committee also wanted to
refit the building so it could make
better use of the space.
The renova
tions are nearing their final stages
and are expected to be completed
by this fall
Cranbury
Landmarks led the effort to save
the Old School from demolition in
1970. It was placed on the New Jer
sey and national registers of histor
ic building in
1973.
“It
would be sad if all those past ef
forts went for naught,” Mr. Bunting
said. “It would seem inappropriate
to dismantle any part of the historic
build
ing.”
The two
options are to repair the bell so it
can ring again or to remove it from
the Old School to display it in a
gallery.
Mr.
Bunting and his group join Town
ship Committee member Tom
Gambino in the effort to restore the
bell.
“The
clock and the bell are integral parts
of the building, they always have
been,” Mr. Gambino said. “The in
terworking parts are symbolic of
what the town is all
about.”
Mr.
Gambino is exploring what the fin
ancial burden would be to restore
the bell. At the May 22 Township
Committee meeting, Mr. Gambino
said the repair work would have to
be done by an outside company,
even though several local residents
have volunteered to help. Mr. Gam
bino was still attempting to contact
such a com
pany.
Com
mittee member Art Hasselbach,
who originally proposed removal,
voiced concerns at the meeting that
time was running out because the
majority of the work to the school
will be completed soon. Once the
work is done, bell renovations
would become more costly, he
said.
Mr.
Gambino said during the meeting
that he was moving “as quickly as
possible” in getting information on
restoration costs. He already had
contacted Dennis West of West
Pattern Works, who said he would
help restore the wheel for the clock
mechanism. He also spoke with
Steve Petroceli, electrical engineer
and Rutgers University professor,
who said to restoring the bell would
require an overhaul of the clock
mechanism.
&nb
sp;Although cost is an issue, Mr.
Gambino said all means of raising
the money, including potential
fund-raisers and the continued use
of volunteers, should be explored.
He said the people he has spoken
with are overwhelmingly in favor
of fixing the
bell.
“The
message that I’ve gotten is that
people want to get involved in it,”
he said. “It gives people a chance to
make a commitment to something,
which is
good.”
Mr.
Gambino said he is unsure when he
would be ready to report the specif
ic cost of the proposed restoration
project.