WWC plans an Historic Science & Technology Museum that will have as its center focus: the Pumping Station and its many engines (the history of the Industrial Revolution in one building ﷓ from steam to computers); and the Filtration Plant and its labs and filtering beds. WWC proposal calls for preserving and maintaining the Pump House, a red brick Romanesque Revival building built l882-1911, and the 4-story, 1882 portion of the Filtration plant with some of the filtration beds. The plan preserves and maintains the Pump House’s historic equipment, including “Old Number 7” , one of the few remaining and largest, stationary, triple-expansion Allis-Chalmers Steam Engines, installed in l911. WWC plans to preserve all of the other rare equipment dating from pre-World War I .

A Monument to the Industrial Revolution

WWC has an “opportunity to create a unique monument to the nation’s waterworks industry and to a type of nineteenth-century machine that once dominated that industry but that now is on the verge of extinction,” as commented Robert M. Vogel, Curator Emeritus, Engineering & Industry, Smithsonian Institution, in his letter to the Oradell Planning Board. With the help of many steam experts from around the country, WWC plans to restore the steam equipment and allow the public to see them “turning over,” although not actually pumping water. Walking through the Museum, the visitor will pass from the early days of steam engines all the way to electricity and computers.

WWC will develop programs in this unique Museum space that will help children and adults understand the growth of Bergen County as one of the premiere suburban sites in the country. Students will explore water resources and their influence in the development of Bergen County and New Jersey. Environmental studies, wet lands and water quality studies will help students explore both the past and the future of this County.

By preserving the technology of the past, curators will help visitors explore the Industrial Revolution and ponder the technology of the future. The history of the Hackensack River, wetlands, population growth, and town planning will all be part of the diverse programming.

Computers will help children develop projects and re-discover their own curiosity and invention. WWC will draw on the resources of many institutions to enrich its programs. Among those available to provide technical help and experts for classes and workshops are: The Smithsonian Institution; New Jersey Institute of Technology; Ramapo College Masters Program in Environmental Studies and Technology; United Water Resources; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Pratt University and Syracuse University.

School and summer programs will attract the youth of our area. Seniors will be docents, advisors and also students. The most senior advisors will include former employees of the Hackensack Water Company before it closed the New Milford Plant.

This museum would preserve our past and point to our future, inspiring our youth, educating our families and providing an invaluable cultural center in the heart of Bergen County.