Holmdel Takes First Step to Preserve the Horn Antenna

Crawford Hill, Lots 6 and 6.01 - Home of the Horn Antenna

At Tuesday’s meeting, Holmdel Township Committee took an important first step toward preserving the Horn Antenna. At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor DJ Luccarelli made a brief statement and said that “I do not take the potential use of eminent domain lightly, but I believe that it makes sense to use this power – that it has under state law - to condemn for open space, recreation, and historic preservation purposes

This was met with applause from a packed meeting room that included Nobel Prize winner Dr. Robert Wilson and many residents who spoke in past meetings in support of preserving the historic antenna.

The Township Committee, by a unanimous vote, then formally approved a detailed resolution authorizing an appraisal consistent with the requirements of the Eminent Domain Act. The Resolution stated that the “Township has received a ground swelling of public support of the Crawford Hill property at meetings of the Township Committee, through electronic submissions, and other outreach from residents.”

Attending the meeting was Fred Carl, the founder of the InfoAge Science and History Museum in Wall Township. During the public comment session, he read a passage from “Losing the Nobel Prize”, in which author Brian Keating wrote that the Holmdel Horn Antenna is “experimental art, a scientific sculpture as cosmically crucial as Stonehenge. It represents the triumph of generosity over greed, courage over fear, persistence over pride. To me, Holmdel is hallowed ground: mankind’s most tangible monument to the quest to understand the cosmos.” Fred Carl concluded by saying “Go Holmdel!”

The Crawford Hill property consists of three lots - 6, 6.01, and 7. The Horn Antenna is located on Lot 6 at the top of the hill on the property. Adjacent to this lot is the much smaller Lot 6.01 which is assessed on a joint basis with Lot 6. Together, these two lots represent 34.6 acres out of the 43-acre property. Lot 7 is a parcel of 8.4-acre land at the bottom of the hill with the old Nokia building that is visible from Holmdel Road.

The action approved by the Township is for Lots 6 and 6.01 together with an easement to traverse Lot 7 to allow access to the top of the property.

The Township Committee also amended the previous resolution for a redevelopment study to be for Lot 7 only.

Before the Township can acquire the Crawford Hill property (Lots 6 and 6.01) by eminent domain, it must engage in bona fide negotiations and the negotiations must be based on an appraisal. Therefore, an appraisal is a condition precedent and is a very important first step that must be taken.

This will enable the Township to begin formal negotiations for potential acquisition and is the first of many potential legal steps in the eminent domain process that will protect Holmdel’s history and the historic Horn Antenna that was used to confirm the Big Bang theory on how the universe began.

Stay tuned.