February 27, 2024 / By mobanmarket
LACEY, NJ — A step has been taken to signal a potential legal fight between Lacey Township and the residents who want to protect a historic site.
The sale of a lot housing the historic Worden House and the former Charles A. Smith Community Hall is currently pending. The lot went up for sale about a year ago, after the construction of the new Charles A. Smith Community Center. These buildings could get demolished by a new owner, officials have previously said. Read more: Residents Hope To Save Historic Building In Lacey
Resident Barry Bendar, a frequent speaker at Township Committee meetings and previous Green Party candidate, served township officials with a “cease and desist” letter at the latest meeting, seeking to stop the sale.
This sale would violate a 1926 Declaration of Trust and a 1934 township resolution, both relating to the former community hall, according to the letter.
In 1918, Charles Arthur Smith, a local philanthropist and freeholder, died. In his will, Smith bequeathed $15,000 to the township.
“This property was bequeathed to the residents of Forked River for their use and enjoyment in the will of the late Charles A. Smith in perpetuity,” Bendar’s letter reads. Construction was completed in 1926.
Residents have argued that by selling the building, they are violating Smith’s will. Township officials replied that by constructing a new community center and naming it after Smith, they still are obeying his wishes.
The other building on the property is the Worden House, built in 1850 by Jacob A. Vaughn and starting in 1890, was owned by Benjamin Burd Worden for more than 50 years. Worden was the Forked River station master and telegraph officer.
The Worden House was donated to Lacey Township in 1982 and was successfully moved to its current location.
Bender said that he recently filed for the Worden House to be listed on National Register of Historic Places with the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office. Additionally, as a precautionary option, a professional structural inspection was completed certifying that the 174-year-old Worden House is sound and can be relocated if a new site is found.
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