Essex County Executive Divincenzo Announces Refurbished Historic Essex County Courthouse

ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO ANNOUNCES REFURBISHED HISTORIC ESSEX COUNTY COURTHOUSE HAS RECEIVED FOUR PRESERVATION AWARDS

Reopened to the Public Just Six Weeks Ago, Courthouse Already Has Been Recognized on National, State and Local Levels

Newark, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced the restored Historic Essex County Courthouse has been recognized with four preservation awards since construction was completed December 29, 2004, and the building was reopened to the public on April 4th.

With $49 million spent to revitalize the building, the Courthouse has been awarded a national preservation award from the Victorian Society in America, a local preservation award from the North Jersey Chapter of the Victorian Society, a preservation award from New Jersey Historic Sites Council and the Donald T. Dust Recognition Award for 2005 from the Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee.

“We are proud of the recognition the courthouse renovation project is receiving, and honored for the awards from the Victorian Society and State Historic Sites Council. We invested a great deal of effort, energy and attention into restoring our courthouse, and earning these prestigious preservation awards is evidence we did the right thing,” DiVincenzo said. “Years of neglect caused our landmark building and many of its unique features to deteriorate and fall into serious disrepair. The museum-quality murals, beautiful sculptures and soaring Tiffany skylights were rehabilitated, and the outstanding beauty of the entire building can once again be admired and appreciated by all its visitors,” he noted.

The national Victorian Society in America recognized the Cass Gilbert-designed courthouse during an awards banquet on Saturday, May 7th during its 39th Annual Meeting and Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Northern New Jersey chapter of the Victorian Society nominated the Historic Courthouse for the annual Preservation Award, which is the highest honor presented by the national society. The national Victorian Society credited County Executive DiVincenzo for reviving the restoration project when he took office in 2003 and stated “Today the Courthouse continues to serve its original function in magnificently refurbished splendor.”

“You could hear the reaction going through the audience at the national meeting, and Victorian Society members usually don’t get very excited,” Catherine Sullivan, President of the Victorian Society’s Northern New Jersey Chapter, said.

In addition, the Northern New Jersey Chapter of the Victorian Society gave its annual preservation award to the Historic Courthouse during its annual meeting held Monday, May 16th in the Montclair Women’s Club.

DiVincenzo expressed gratitude to the members of the Northern New Jersey chapter of the Victorian Society for nominating the Courthouse project for the national award and honoring it with the local award. “I really appreciate the interest that the Victorian Society and residents from throughout Essex County have in our Historic Courthouse. Being eligible to receive these awards will help us inform the public about the jewel they have in their midst,” he said. The County Executive also thanked Montclair resident and Victorian Society member Adrianna Otoole, who worked with the County to submit the nomination application and has been a cheerleader for the revival of the courthouse.

“It’s a marvelous building. We have to make people realize that it’s part of their history and that it’s important to Essex County,” Otoole said. “Sometimes it takes just one person to get something done, and Mr. DiVincenzo was the person for the Historic Courthouse. How well our public buildings are maintained sends a strong message and hopefully will create a ripple effect throughout the community,” she added.

The New Jersey Historic Sites Council and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Historic Preservation Office, bestowed its 2005 New Jersey Historic Preservation Award to Essex County for the Historic Courthouse. The awards ceremony was held at the Historic Preservation Week Ceremony at the New Jersey State House in Trenton on Saturday, May 7th.

Earlier in the year, Essex County was awarded the Donald T. Dust Recognition Award for 2005, the highest honor from the Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee. That award was presented in February 2005.

The Courthouse 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.

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