Walkie-talkies developed at Fort Monmouth? Mural shares fort's pre-Netflix history
OCEANPORT - Netflix may be a big part of the future of Fort Monmouth, but one of the first pioneer business owners to take a chance at the fort wants the public to remember its roots as a place of technological innovation.
Over the course of the summer and into the fall, Michael Abboud, owner of the cloud-based tech company TetherView, commissioned local artist Brendan Ryan to paint a 24-foot long mural on an old generator shed behind Russel Hall to pay tribute to the fort's past.
Russel Hall, built in 1936, served as the fort's headquarters until its closure in 2011.
At first the mural didn't look so hot. Some passersby originally mistook it for graffiti, due to Ryan's method of using odd symbols, which Abboud likened to hieroglyphics, as placeholders. Abboud got some phone calls from concerned people who thought one of the fort's most iconic buildings was the target of spray-can artists.
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"That's just the way I grid out these larger murals. It helps me keep everything aligned," said Ryan, a 2016 graduate of Donovan Catholic High School in Toms River who is an art teacher at St. Mary's Academy in Stafford today.
On the mural are several homing pigeons that were used by the army to provide communications when all other means failed. The homing pigeons were bred and then trained by by the Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth from 1917 to 1957.
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There is a painting of an old photograph from 1928 of the first radio-equipped meteorological balloon, which soared into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, a forerunner of a weather-sounding technique universally used today that was developed at the fort.
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The mural also has a case for night vision goggles, which was a piece of equipment invented by Fort Monmouth’s Signal Corps scientists and a soldier holding a walkie-talkie, also developed at the fort.
Abboud said he'd been thinking of a way to honor the fort's technological and military history for a few years. Since he moved in at the end of 2015, he said he's met a lot of people who contributed to its history. Some of those people just ring his doorbell randomly for a look at the old headquarters building.
Back when Abboud first moved in he used to watch herds of deer roam the parade grounds from the rooftop of Russel Hall. But the pace of redevelopment has picked up. Homes have been built, fitness gyms, banquet halls and entertainment venues have opened. And of course, Netflix could be the proverbial cherry on top.
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"Netflix has made the fort a national news story, but projects were getting off the ground and succeeding before them," said Abboud, who is also one of the principals developing the fort's Riverwalk Center on Parker's Creek.
The centerpiece of Riverwalk Center is Allison Hall, another historic fort building that was built in 1928 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The hall once housed the Army's administration offices. The building has to be preserved and the plan is to turn it into a three-story boutique hotel.
The unveiling of the mural will be noon on Friday. There will be a small ceremony at Russel Hall to mark the occasion.
When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Fort Monmouth TetherView mural promotes fort's technological history
