By Christina Whittington, Special Writer
BORDENTOWN CITY — This past weekend one of the city’s most important historical landmarks opened its doors to the public allowing visitors the chance to look inside.
The Old City Hall, a 19th century building adorned with a clock tower, is located at 11 Crosswicks St. Major restoration work began in 2008.
It has been unoccupied since 1961, when the city outgrew the facility and moved its operations to its current location on Farnsworth Avenue.
The Old City Hall Restoration Project Committee (OCHRP) which was formed in 2008 to raise funds to help offset restoration costs to the City of Bordentown, sponsored the open house on June 16 and June 17. It that offered a self-guided tour of the building on both days from noon to 4 p.m.
The open house was staffed by city officials and committee members who offered a wealth of information on the historic building and its contemporary restorations.
On Saturday evening the documentary “Thompson Street” was showcased for its film debut within the facility. The film delves into exploring Bordentown City’s Halloween traditions. The documentary was produced by Random Thought Pictures, a city based production company.
The building, which was built in the 1880s by the contractor Hancock & Company, has served Bordentown City in many different capacities through the years.
The Bordentown City Police Department once occupied the two front rooms of the first floor. When renovations started, a wooden counter containing a file cabinet was removed. The file cabinet contained old police records, which the committee is storing.
At the rear of the first floor of the building, there are four jail cells which the Police Department used to house prisoners until 1961.
When the restoration work started, workers uncovered prison art in jail cell No. 3.
”The drawing is historic prison art,” said Vicki Gaudier, OCHRP committee member. “We are one of the only town halls of this period that still retained its jail cells. Our goal, because we love this old town, its history, (is) to retain as much of the historic value as we can.”
The artwork and writings in jail cell 3 will be preserved. In the future, working toilets and doors will be installed in two of the jail cells.
The building also served as a local draft office during both World War I and World War II.
In a large room on the second floor of the hall — which was once used as the Bordentown City Court — extensive plaster work has been done to repair broken cornice pieces and rebuild a ceiling which was in a total state of disrepair. A beam that had fallen was also replaced.
According to City Commissioner Zigmont “Zig” Targonski, and director of public property, streets and water, “There is a lot of work that has been done here, restoring all the plaster. The contractor that was a low bid had done a lot of this work in Philadelphia, and had done a lot of work in buildings that had a lot of the old plaster and water intrusion caused problems, we were fortunate.”
A restroom on the second floor has also been restored to meet modern day regulations, however a piece of history still remains inside, the old city safe ,which was once used to store valuable documents and records.
A sprinkler system has also been installed in the building.
Lighting in the building which used to be powered by gas, has since been converted to electric. The brass and crystal fixtures that are now installed are historical reproductions of the gaslights that were once used.
Though the Old City Hall was open to the public this weekend, there were two areas of the building that were not.
The attic and the clock tower, which houses the 1888 Seth Thomas Tower Clock Mechanism was not available for tours. This historic clock mechanism chimes hourly, year round and has to have its mechanism wound on a weekly basis. It also contains a functional tower clock light.
The firehouse which is attached to the Old City Hall was also not available for a tour due to its current condition. The original horse drawn fire pumper from 1794 is still housed inside.
Funding for the restoration projects came from State grants the City received from the Department of Community Affairs as well as the fundraising efforts done by the OCHRP.
The next fundraiser is scheduled for Oct. 20 and will be “The Painted Classroom Desk Auction.” The auction will take place at The Old City Hall with a preview starting at 5 p.m. and the auction beginning at 7 p.m.
The OCHRP would like to see the building one day become a multi-purpose community room, with a meeting room for hire, a visitors center and a museum.
”Our committee is growing. We have been established since 2008,” said Ms. Gaudier. “We are fortunate to have dedicated city residents as well as people who are joining us from outside the community because they see the value in this property.”
The OCHRP meets on the third Thursday of every month at 7 pm at City Hall on Farnsworth Avenue.

