By: Sean Moylan
Imagine being led home to Bordentown by the beautiful early evening soft, beckoning glow of new baseball lights at Gilder Field.
Imagine gazing upon antique furniture and forgotten treasures of the art world not seen by the public in decades and decades. Imagine entering the historic Gilder House on Farnsworth Avenue and unlocking some of the hidden secrets of the Gilder and the Bonaparte families or imagine taking a leisurely stroll through a brand new Gild Park complete with a lavish landscape of breathtaking well-kept flowers, bushes and trees.
These are just a few of the prospective plans Marguerite "Mimi" Mount and the Gilder Park Revitalization Project.
Recently, the City of Bordentown, through a grant awarded by the Garden State Historic preservation Trust Fund and the New Jersey Historic Trust, put down a new baseball field surface at Gilder Field, which serves as the home of the Bordentown Post 26 American Legion baseball team, the Bordentown Mavericks, Bordentown High School and the Bordentown Patriots. Some of those clubs have players who hail from Florence, Burlington Township, Northern Burlington and the surrounding areas. So Gilder Field has a far-reaching impact.
However, the historic revitalization committee, of which Mount is the chair, has several other plans for Gilder Field on its agenda. Gilder needs a new irrigation system to replace the outdated water-wasting gun sprinklers. It also needs a press box and new dugouts to replace the outdated, unsafe ones which currently exist. And Gilder needs lights for night games and other amenities.
Lights would open the door for minor league exhibitions and baseball re-enactor games to be held at Gilder. The potential revenue generated by such events could be sizable.
However, there’s a problem.
While the City is obligated to match the grant money provided by the trust fund, the Gilder Park Revitalization project still needs to raise an additional few hundred thousand just for its most basic plans to come to fruition.
Several prominent local citizens, including Joe Malone, Bob Erickson and Curt Appleby have already lent their assistance and guidance to Mount in this massive undertaking. But in reality the project is so huge it will take the support of the entire Bordentown community.
Mount and her colleagues have instituted a Gilder Park Revitalization Fund with varying levels of sponsorship. Inaugural Fund Sponsors are required to make a minimum contribution of $10,000. However, other sponsorships are much more modest. Team Play Sponsorships run the range from $250 to $1,000. While Hall of Fame sponsorships run from $5,000 to $10,000.
Of course tax-deductible gifts of any size are welcome. Mount is also looking for volunteers who would help in preserving the park. For more information, she can be reached at (609) 689-9700.
And while the preservation of the baseball field is important, the Gilder House remains the centerpiece and the first initiative of the project.
"Rodman deKay Gilder gave the house to the City of Bordentown in the 1930’s," said Mount, who is one of the leading experts of Bordentown’s history.
deKay Gilder, a descendant of Richard Watson Gilder, the Editor of Century Magazine, and noted author Jeanette Gilder, who both lived in the house, loved baseball so much that the Gilder Stadium (field) was constructed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration on the 13 acres he left the community behind the house.
Later in 1957, Carslake Community Center, named after the lone donor of the project, was constructed at the front of the property. According to other information provided by Mount, the Gilder House itself dates back tot he 1700’s and it is believed that runaway slaves were hidden on the property at the time of the Civil War. The Gilder House actually contains a museum complete with authentic furnishings, artifacts and paintings that date back to 1682. Unfortunately, many of the most valuable artifacts have been put away in storage because the house has been deemed structurally unsafe inside.
"There’s no heat and no running water. It has electricity but it needs structural improvements to have the building stabilized," noted Mount, whose committee used most of the funds provided from an initial grant a few years ago to pay for an Historic Structures Report prepared by Ford Farewell Mills.
The report offered guidelines as to how to restore the Gilder House, which was deemed as historically significant.
The second grant, City money and donations by the public will be used to restore the Gilder House to its original conditions.
"We want to open the inside of the house to the public," said Mount, whose committee provided for outside work on the house years ago, which included work on the roof and chimney,
The committee’s second initiative, to improve Gilder Field, could ultimately be a big money maker for the community. Gilder Field is already considered to be one of the most beautiful fields by the Mercer County American Legion.
"Gilder Field and Gilder Park have been important parts of the Bordentown community for over 70 years," added Mount, who also had high praise for Carslake Community Center.
The committee’s third initiative, to improve curb appeal with better landscape maintenance and added authentic, historically accurate gardens will require the most community involvement. The committee doesn’t want the Public Works Department to have to do all of the cleaning and maintenance.
Not long ago in the Register-News, Bob Erickson told tales of Gilder Field’s history. He spoke of the days of Donkey Baseball and large community gatherings.
Rodman deKay Gilder donated the Gilder House and 13 acres so that the people of Bordentown could enjoy baseball and each other. With everyone’s help it can be Bordentown’s "small town" answer to Rockefeller Center.
Along with the Clara Barton Schoolhouse, it can draw more tourists to Bordentown from hundred of miles away. Imagine and make it so.

