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KINNELON - Schoolhouse museum in need of big time repairs
(by Deborah Walsh - Staff Writer - December 02, 2008)
KINNELON - The Borough Council has endorsed the Kinnelon Historical Commission’s plan to have L’Ecole, which houses the borough’s museum, added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.
At the Nov. 20 council meeting, former Councilman Thomas Kline, who serves as vice chairman of the Kinnelon Historical Commission, said L’Ecole needs substantial updating and repairs. The commission has looked into finding solutions that could ease the financial burden of the repairs. By having the museum added to the register, the borough would become eligible for county and state grants and low-interest loans.
Kline produced a thick application and noted that the application process will be long. Five commission members have volunteered to work on the application.
“It’s a six- to nine-month process. We don’t want to start the process if you aren’t going to support what we’re doing,” said Kline.
Kline said the commission must do an extensive amount of historical research. The commission must have a complete understanding of the entire history of the building.
According to “Kinnelon: A History – Where the Future is Enriched by the Past” by Lucy Meyer, L’Ecole, the French word for school, was built in 1873 and was initially Meadtown School. It was a one-room schoolhouse that children in grades one through eight attended.
Dr. Helen Miller purchased Meadtown School in 1931 to use as a weekend retreat from her Manhattan practice. Dr. Miller died on June 18, 1990, nine days shy of her 94th birthday. She bequeathed L’Ecole to the town.
Kline said state statute bars municipalities from seeking historical preservation funds from the county if the property in question is not listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. Kline acknowledged that in the past some felt L’Ecole would not meet the criteria to be named to the register. Kline said he was confident that L’Ecole would be named to the list.
Also, Kline said several approaches could be taken, including the property being deemed a historic site, the building being named a historic building, and people associated with L’Ecole being considered an integral part of the borough’s history.
Councilman James Freda said he would like to see the structure brought up to par and utilized more fully. One possibility includes senior citizens using the building as a meeting place, he said.
Beyond this, Kline said there are a lot of potential uses for the building in addition to the museum. For example, Kline noted that the school district has made visits to L’Ecole part of the third-grade curriculum. Two-hundred third graders recently visited L’Ecole.
“We asked the students 10 basic questions about Kinnelon and got some amusing answers,” he said.
When the council was polled, all of its members endorsed the plan to have the building named to the state’s historic register.
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