Politics & Government

South Brunswick Council Moves Forward with Plan to Repair Historic Home

Wetherill House to be repaired, Environmental Center remains a question.

The South Brunswick Township Council decided at Tuesday evening's meeting to move forward with plans to fix the historic  on Georges Road in Dayton. A decision still needs to be made on whether or not to repair the , located on Old Road near the South Brunswick-Princeton border.

The historic , which is expected to cost about $20,000.

"This needs to be done and I'm happy to move it forward," said Deputy Mayor Chris Killmurray. "Let's get this done because if we don't, bad weather is going to be coming and things will get a lot worse."

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The repairs to the home are expected to come out of the Open Space Trust Fund, with the township also seeking grants for historic preservation to pay for the upkeep on the home.

"The Wetherill House in on our historic registry list and if it's on that list it has to be preserved," said Mayor Frank Gambatese said last month. ". Under the ordinance it can't be demolished or knocked down and has to be protected, which is why we added it to the historic inventory in the first place."

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Former township clerk Kathy Holder attended the council meeting a few weeks ago and criticized the council for using $54,000 of funds that remained in an account from the 1998 Bicentennial festivities. The money was used as part of the 2010 municipal budget.

The council said the funds were not designated for a specific purpose at the time, but the money would be replaced for its intended purpose of upkeep to the historic home.

Repairs to the Environmental Center remain up the air, however. Estimates indicate repairs to the center could cost about $140,000.

Council members said the site's usage doesn't justify pouring that kind of money into it.

"Outside of being a facility for when scouts use it, the site is not active or essential," said Councilman Charles Carley. 

But because the site does have electricity and full plumbing, it may receive some basic improvements to allow for limited usage. The council floated the idea of enlisting volunteers, as local scouts may be interested in doing some of the volunteer work since they're the most frequent users of the center.


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