RESTORED ESSEX COUNTY COURTHOUSE RECEIVES HIGHEST AWARD FROM
NEWARK PRESERVATION AND LANDMARKS COMMITTEE
Essex County Executive DiVincenzo Accepts Dust Award for
Complete Renovation of Historic Public Treasure
Newark, NJ – Essex County’s $49 million total rehabilitation of the Historic Essex County Courthouse in Newark won the highest honor from the Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee. Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. accepted the Committee’s Donald T. Dust Recognition Award for 2005 during a ceremony in the refurbished Historic Courthouse on Thursday, February 17th.
Named for the Committee’s late founder, the Donald T. Dust Recognition Award recognizes “outstanding efforts toward the preservation of the historic landmarks in the City of Newark,” and has been given out for the last three decades. The awards are plaques containing pieces of woodwork from the 1889 Krueger-Scott Mansion on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
“I am proud and honored that the Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee has given its highest award to our Historic Courthouse. It is rewarding that the months of hard work and commitment by our administration, engineers and contractors to restore this beautiful public treasure are being recognized,” DiVincenzo said. “The museum-quality murals, beautiful sculptures and soaring Tiffany skylights have been rehabilitated, and the outstanding beauty of the entire building can once again be admired and appreciated by all its visitors,” he noted.
The Landmarks Committee praised Essex County for finishing the most ambitious restoration project undertaken recently in Newark by any level of government. The Committee stated, “Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. and various county officials, along with an army of architects, artisans, and planners, have done an extraordinary job in rehabilitating and enhancing the Courthouse’s original interior and exterior beauty.”
A renovation project, 14 years long, was barely off the ground with just 5 percent of the work finished when Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. took office in January 2003. DiVincenzo restored oversight to the project and established an expedited timetable to reopen the building. He held weekly meetings with the contractors to keep the lines of communication open, resolve disputes and avoid any delays – and what had not been completed in 14 years was accomplished in just 24 months. On December 29, 2004, DiVincenzo presided over a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the $49 million renovation project to restore the luster and beauty to the Historic Courthouse.
On the exterior, masonry work was re-pointed, monumental wooden windows were restored, statues were cleaned and conserved, and new landscaping and sidewalk pavers were added. Missing and broken decorative elements were replaced and seismic restraints were installed on the rooftop statues. The bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln, for example, was stripped of any corrosion due to dirt and exposure to weather. A new coat of finish was applied to prevent any future damage from the elements.
Wood finishes, fixtures, marble and decorative architectural features were stripped, cleaned and repaired. Replicas of plaster pilasters and other decorative objects were created to replace those that were broken or destroyed. Murals located in the rotunda and seven courtrooms had layers of dirt, grime and mold removed. The mural were then retouched and, in some cases, repainted before a new protective finish was applied.
One of the more challenging aspects of the renovation is out of sight from the public’s eye. Care and skill was required to restore the artwork and historic surfaces, but great ingenuity was needed to install modern systems in a historic building that was not designed to accommodate them. New HVAC ductwork and equipment to create a comfortable and healthy environment, wires and equipment for modern telecommunications and security systems, a fire suppression system to make the building safe, and a new electrical system were installed without compromising the aesthetics or various historical aspects of the building.
The marble and limestone building was designed by Cass Gilbert, the architect of the Woolworth Building in New York City and the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC. Opened in 1907, the Historic Courthouse won widespread acclaim for its neoclassical facades, grand rotunda and large-scale murals. Gutzon Borglum’s “Seated Lincoln” statue was placed in front of the Courthouse in 1911. The building and bronze statue are both on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Newark Preservation & Landmarks Committee also honored St. Benedict’s Prep with a 2005 Dust Award. The school was recognized for making its students aware of Newark’s history through its Newark Studies Program and Newark InDepth student magazine.
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