What's that odd tower doing in Ocean Township? Lights could brighten historic curiosity
OCEAN TOWNSHIP - For the first time in recent memory, the historic Stucile water tower, long a fixture of curiosity in town, is visible to drivers on Route 35 after land was cleared for the Ocean Commons development.
Now an idea is percolating to turn the electricity back on in the roughly 100-year old farm structure that looks more like an out-of-place lighthouse than a water tower. Mayor John Napolitoni Sr. said the purpose would be so people could see the lighted tower at night from the roads, thus highlighting one of the township's historical properties.
The developer of Ocean Commons, a mixed-use site of commercial retail, hotel and townhouses under construction at the corner of Deal Road and Route 35, has offered to help with the costs of the lighting.
Before that proceeds, though, the township plans to do more stabilization work on the historic tower.
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At the urging of the Ocean Historical Museum, which maintains the tower and has been restoring it piecemeal over the last 12 years, the township committee earmarked $50,000 to install steel reinforcements to the structure. On Thursday the committee voted to put the work out to bid.
"We obviously want to preserve it for the town. It's a great piece of history," Napolitoni said.
The tower was erected sometime before 1931. The museum's records say the tower was on the property when the Haupts, New York City brokers, purchased the property in that year. The property, which sits on Deal Road, was then named the Stucile farm after the combined names the Haupt children, Stuart and Cecile.
The farm bordered the then-Eden Woolley estate — the properties have since been turned into Joe Palaia park. Portions of the Stucile farm were also used for the location of town's library and historical museum.
A 2002 cultural resource study described the tall, square-sided water tower and an attached farm building as an "eclectic combination of styles that include Italianate, Federalist, and Craftsman." An account from Ira Haupt II said the first floor of the tower held general farm implements and a laborer lived on its second floor.
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Paul Edelson, president of the museum's board of directors, said the tower was once used to pump water out of Poplar Brook to water crops. Edelson said one the board's goals is to restore the tower to house a museum on the first floor that would be open to the public.
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: Stucile water tower in Ocean Township NJ planned to be lighted
