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Glen Ridge Municipal Complex Restoration
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Background
The Glen Ridge Municipal Complex is composed of three components: the municipal core, the public safety wing and the library. The Municipal Complex was built as part of the town's civic center and the design utilizes an eclectic version of the Italian Renaissance. The development of a civic center was influenced by the City Beautiful Movement at the turn of the 20th century and was created as part of a 1909 master planning study for the Borough.
The first of the building components was the library, constructed in 1918. In 1930, the Borough constructed the municipal building through a design competition; W.O. Bartlett from Newark was chosen as the architect. His design sited the building next to the library and was symmetrically balanced by the public safety wing. There have been a few changes since its construction including the addition of the cupola in 1937 and the library wing addition in 1992, which joined all three components. The library addition provided room for library's expanding facilities and made the building accessible to the disabled.
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The Complex holds a prominent position along Bloomfield Avenue, a major east/west thoroughfare in Essex County and has served as the center of civic administration since its construction.
There are significant areas of deterioration caused primarily by materials being at the end of their useful life and water infiltration through those materials. The greatest concerns are the deteriorated flashings, gutters and leaders at all building components which have contributed to the deterioration of the wood cornices and brackets at the public safety wing and library, and the masonry at the rear of the municipal core. There is concern over the extensive cracking at the brick veneer, particularly on the north side of the building, which is allowing water infiltration within the wall cavity and subsequently affecting the condition of the structural steel buried within these walls. Although the Borough has installed some stop gap measures to prevent water infiltration, these were of a temporary nature and efforts are underway for more permanent and historically sensitive repairs and upgrades.
Construction
Project includes the exterior restoration and rehabilitation of the Glen Ridge Municipal Complex including roof, roof drainage, masonry, windows, doors, stairs and railings. The work has been broken into two phases.
The first phase, which is complete, addressed the roof and roof drainage conditions at the library, public safety wing and core building roof issues. These were immediate needs that had to be addressed due to conditions.
The second phase, which is underway, will address masonry restoration, window and door restoration, as well as work at other finish exterior components such as balustrades, stairs, and railings.
Connolly & Hickey Historical Architects are the project architects.
Lewis Graham, Inc. of Clark New Jersey is the lead contractor on the project.
The project is funded in part by a grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust in the amount of $664,200.
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