Thursday, April 06, 2017

They only need 80 more signatures to present this petition to the city council, to get preservation status for the Michelin factory smokestack and water tower... and prevent them from being torn down


The water tower and the smokestack of the Lawrence Brook Gristmill that were in operation from 1769 to roughly 1843

there is no harm in saving a historic symbol, and that's exactly what the water tower and smokestack are, proud historic landmarks that were put on the town's 100th anniversary banners back in 1996.

So, the Milltown Borough Council will get formal notification with this petition, and then some progress can be made to officially get the landmark water tower and smokestack immunity from developers who are looking to bulldoze over all traces of history

Just sign here: https://www.change.org/p/milltown-borough-council-save-preserve-and-restore-the-iconic-smokestack-and-water-tower-in-milltown/share with a click of a button

https://www.facebook.com/Save-Milltowns-History-153003031400718/

The site has been a part of the small New Jersey town for over 100 years.

Michelin, hoping to capitalize on the burgeoning American automobile market, scouted out locations in the early 1900s and chose Milltown for its first American tire factory.

In 1906, horse driven tractors began grading the property for building the many components of the rubber tire manufacturing.

By 1907 there was a power house, manufacturing buildings, a bank and cafeteria as Michelin began its first United States operations.

In 1919, Michelin built 53 bungalows for workers’ homes.

In the 1920s more than 2,000 people worked for Michelin in Milltown in 15 buildings that contained 475,000 square feet of factory floor.

Milltown is a small town, with approximately 7,000 residents

http://www.gmnews.com/2016/08/19/milltown-demolition/

2 comments:

  1. It would be nice to save the smokestack and water tower, especially if they are labeled. However, who is then responsible for maintenance and repairs? Taxpayers? Land owner? Some historical landmark commission and if so where to they get money? If either one falls over from a storm or earthquake and hurts people/property, who’s libel. It isn’t like pulling a drowning man out of the water, you can walk away after that. No good deed goes unpunished. ;o)

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    1. if they have survived the hurricanes (Sandy, Andrew) this well, they've got the strength to last many more. And that smokestack is likely to be incredibly strong, like the one I posted last year that was impervious to the dynamite used in the attempt to bring it down

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