A Bridgeton Museum
By Albert B. Kelly
I don’t know if you’ve
noticed lately, but the former Cumberland National Bank building, dating from
1816; what we sometimes think of as the 1816 portion of the Bridgeton Library,
has had some amazing renovation work completed on its exterior recently.
The work was spearheaded
and funded in part by Friends of the Library and Save the Library; with both
groups working to provide matching funds to go with the money awarded to the
project by the New Jersey Historic Trust. We are grateful for their efforts and
their undertaking was no small thing.
If you take a little time
to examine the building, I think you will be impressed by the authentic mortar
and brick work, the ornamentation around the windows, down to the paint; all
lovingly analyzed, chosen, and applied to recreate, strengthen, and enhance
what was originally part of that nearly 200 year old structure; erected in
record time to meet the deadline of its day.
If you are like me though,
I think you’ll be very impressed with the restoration of the steps, the door
and the railing; all of which were part of the building façade up until the
1960’s. At some point back in the sixties, they disappeared and through some
painstaking work, we have them back to the benefit of that entire streetscape,
including Bank Street; so named for the presence of the bank itself.
That said; there remains
the question of what to do with the building. Obviously it’s historic, built in
1816, and it stands as the second oldest purpose built bank building in the
State. According to some in-depth research by historic architect Penny Watson
of the Watson & Henry firm, the building assumed its current look in 1867
when the bank remodeled and added a one-story addition at the rear.
The building became the
Bridgeton Library in 1901 and when the City took ownership of the building in
1923, they expanded the one-story wing. The “annex” portion of what we know as
the library was constructed in 1967 and the historic 1816 portion became office
space and was therefore no longer open to the public.
Precisely because of this
history, what we do with the building matters. With the various plans and
discussions centering on a combined Bridgeton-County Library to be located in
the downtown Central Business District, the question of the buildings’ future
demands an answer.
For me, my hope remains to
have the building serve as a museum. At present and for quite some time now
(1976), the Woodruff family has been gracious enough to allow Bridgeton the
honor of being home to the Woodruff Museum of Indian Artifacts; a collection of
30,000 pieces assembled by George J. Woodruff.
This considerable
collection features iron stones some 5,000 to 8,000 years old, Quartzite
arrowheads that were found in Greenwich dating back 600 to 1,000 years ago;
reconstructed pots, axes, cooking utensils, bones, and fishing equipment to
name just a few of the pieces.
With that in mind, the
1816 Cumberland National Bank building would be the perfect site to serve as a
museum with this collection as the featured exhibit. I’m also confident that
there would be enough space to assemble other notable displays and pieces as
well. If done with sensitivity and done well, this building could serve as a
stand-alone museum venue that we can all take pride in.
I think this would be
fitting for the Woodruff’s; who’ve been part of the fabric of this community
for generations; and I also think this is fitting in light of the passion,
dedication, and sizable contributions made by Friends of the Library and Save
the Library as invested stakeholders in both the library and the Cumberland
National Bank building.
There are however,
challenges in getting to that day when we can cut the ribbon on a museum in the
Cumberland National Bank building; namely identifying resources and raising the
needed revenues to complete the necessary restoration work that needs to be
done on the interior, along with marketing and related tasks.
I think we can get there,
but I also want to be realistic about the work that remains ahead of us. In
that never ending struggle between what we hope to see and what it takes to
make it a reality; given the Woodruff family, our preservation partners,
committed groups such as those I’ve named above, and the rich history of our
city…I really like our chances.