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"SAVE OLD NUMBER 7 - April 27, 2001"

Cablevision Editorial
by Sandra Earley



Oradell and Bergen County have dithered for a decade about Van Buskirk Island in the Hackensack River.
The 13-acre island contains historic red-brick buildings that once
provided water to all Bergen County. The main building rises several stories and is dominated by Old No. 7, a huge pump. Clifford Zink, an architectural historian from Princeton, has said, accurately, the building ?...is like a cathedral.?

There are plans to make a museum of the industrial-strength grandeur. Last week Oradell stepped out of the picture, leaving the way clear for Bergen County to take action. The property is located in Oradell. The county owns it.

Bergen County has said it will lease or deed the property to the
nonprofit Water Works Conservancy. The project needs $10 million, according to Maggie Harrer of the conservancy. The group has promises of $6 million. A state grant for a half-million dollars runs out soon unless the project gets moving.

This summer, Bergen County will begin work on making a park of the island?s 10 empty acres, according to Wolfgang Albrecht, county park superintendent. Albrecht has an idea for the buildings should the museum not materialize. Using, say, $10 million, Albrecht would preserve some walls and old No. 7 as an open-air monument.

New Jersey has bulldozed too much history. Ironically, tearing down the waterworks could be almost as expensive as preserving them. We?d like to see Bergen County get going to save old No. 7 and these fine buildings.