By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Township Committee members refused Tuesday night to jump into the controversy over the imminent demolition of the long-closed home of the aristocratic Duke family.
Not knowing if there was legal authority to intervene, the governing body asked Township Attorney William Willard to research the options.
The leaders were asked to talk informally with the Historic Preservation Commission before its meeting Thursday night to debate and formally ratify a 6-1 decision it made Oct. 15 to allow Duke Foundation to proceed.
Duke Farms has insisted the home is severely dilapidated, not historically or architecturally significant and with no place in the foundation’s long-term plan for the 2,700-acre estate, which is open free to the public as a place to teach sustainability and environmental stewardship.
The house has been shuttered since some time after Ms. Duke’s death in 1993. Wednesday, Oct. 28, was the anniversary of her death.
Elisabeth McConville, who identified herself as an employee of Doris Duke for years, urged the Township Committee to discuss with the Preservation the possibility of a six-month moratorium in a demolition. The township code allows the HPC to deny a permit and order a period to investigate “a better solution – one that will honor the legacy of Doris Duke and preserve the heart and soil for future generations.
She called the home “one of America’s most well-known castles of the Gilded Age.”
David Brook, a township resident serving as the attorney for a group named DORIS, for Demolition of Residence Is Senseless, said there was nothing prohibiting Township Committee members from asking the commission to reconsider.
A six-month moratorium would take the emotion out of the issue and focus to be put on other avenues.
It also heard from James Trynosky of Falcon Engineering in Bridgewater, which offered engineering services in an adaptive reuse effort, in the hopes of stimulating more business altruism in any effort.
Mr. Brook said that, in a legal appeal, the “record was not going to be very persuasive” because Duke never submitted any reports or experts to testify that the building couldn’t fit in with Duke Estate objectives.
He also suggested the township would benefit economically from a revitalization of the home.
Mr. Brook ruffled Mayor Douglas Tomson’s nerves in suggesting it was curious stae and county local officials weren’t commenting. Mr. Brook also referred to Township Committee members walking in the back of the room during HPC hearings and sometimes “muttering comments.”
“Silence is an action,” said Mr. Brook. “Is it acquiescence or is it support?”
