MONTGOMERY: Bids out for building demolition project

By Stephanie Vaccaro, Staff Writer
   MONTGOMERY — Montgomery Township is taking demolition bids until 11 a.m. on May 25 at which time they will be publicly opened and read for the Skillman Village building demolition project.
   The project involves the demolition of approximately 20 buildings at the site previously known as the North Princeton Developmental Center, located in Montgomery Township.
   Demolition work is set to begin Friday, June 24, and is to be completed by Sunday, Sept. 4, according to the township notice.
   Many of the buildings contain asbestos, lead-based paint and other material subject to disposal and handling regulations.
   The township wants to hire a single contractor to complete all demolition work and restore portions of the site affected by the demolition, according to the township notice.
   In 2007, the township purchased a 256-acre parcel of land from the state, which originally consisted of three large farms.
   These lands were established in 1898 as the “New Jersey State Village for Epileptics” at Skillman, during a time when there was no known treatment for epilepsy. The village layout was designed by landscape architect/engineer Charles W. Leavitt in 1901.
   For many years it operated as a self-contained “town” that consisted of hospitals, housing, farms, maintenance areas, schools, a theater, a power plant, a wastewater treatment facility, cemeteries and an on-site landfill.
   It was one of the first such facilities in the United States, according to the township website.
   In recent years there were more than 100 state buildings on the property, mostly in substandard, unsafe, unsanitary and dilapidated condition. Ninety-two buildings were demolished by the township in the summer of 2007. The remaining buildings were boarded up while being considered for potential reuse, according to the township website.
   In October 2010, Somerset County agreed to purchase Skillman Village from the township.
   Mayor Mark Caliguire said the agreement with the county is as it originally was with the exception that the township agreed to go out to bid on the demolition of the project. The bid in hand will allow the county to have a hard number to finalize the sale, which is expected to be approximately $15 million. At which point, the county will be responsible for the demolition.
   ”It’s our hope that we can close the first week of June,” said Mayor Caliguire.
   The funds for the purchase will come from the county’s Open Space, Recreation, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund.
   Use and future development of the Skillman Village site will be limited to recreation, conservation, historic preservation or agricultural purposes since funding is being provided through the trust fund dedicated to those purposes, according to a township notice.