The National Park Service has released the Environmental Assessment for the Adaptive Use of the Fort Hancock and Sandy Hook Proving Ground National Historic Landmark at the Sandy Hook unit of Gateway National Recreation Area.
The assessment is open for public review through April 15. It outlines proposed preservation treatments for Fort Hancock’s landscape and grounds, and the adaptive rehabilitation of 97 nationally significant buildings located at the core of the fort.
Buildings addressed in the assessment include those that will continue to be used by the National Park Service and its education partners. Additionally, 36 presently vacant buildings are proposed for adaptive reuse through the National Park Service historic leasing program by the Sandy Hook Partners.
The buildings of Fort Hancock have been managed as a campus-like village through partnerships since the park’s establishment in 1974.
Currently, more than 20 historic buildings are used by partners which include the N.J. Marine Sciences Consortium, the Marine Academy of Science & Technology, the James Howard Marine Lab, Brookdale Community College, and the N.J. Audubon Society.
The proposal by Sandy Hook Partners would extend the adaptive reuse to 36 additional vacant buildings through a mix of education, research, office, and hospitality uses.
The assessment is available online at www.njparksandforests.org and at www.littoralsociety.org. Copies of the assessment are also available for review in select Monmouth County libraries and the Sandy Hook visitor center from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily.
Individual copies may be purchased for $5 at the visitor center or by writing to the superintendent with checks payable to the National Park Service. Written comments will be accepted through April 15 and may be sent to: Superintendent, Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway National Recreation Area, P.O. Box 530, Fort Hancock 07732.
Open house meetings on the environmental assessment will be Feb. 28 and March 2 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Fort Hancock post chapel. For more information, call (732) 872-5910.