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The Newark Preservation & Landmarks Committee Saving a City's Heritage |
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Upcoming Tour:
"MOTHER'S DAY TOUR TO SEE VARIED NEWARK HOMES"
“MOTHER'S DAY AT HOME: THE VARIED WAYS THAT PEOPLE LIVE IN NEWARK” will be the theme of a bus tour of old and new dwellings in the city on Sunday, May 11.
The six-hour tour, sponsored by the Newark Preservation & Landmarks Committee, will visit seven residences that span nearly three centuries – from the second oldest house in the city, to a just-built townhouse. The tour stops will include dwelling units that have been developed within an old factory, an office skyscraper, a onetime carriage house, and a former schoolhouse and church.
Elizabeth Del Tufo, a longtime leader in the preservation movement, will be the guide aboard the chartered bus. She said the aim of the tour through New Jersey’s oldest and largest city is to show “a diverse population living in diverse housing, which only an urban area can provide.”
Del Tufo will draw on the knowledge she has gained in leading hundreds of tours during the last 30 years, and in heading both the landmarks committee and the City of Newark’s Historic Preservation Commission. In addition, the tourists will be able to meet people who have lived in Newark for years, or who have arrived recently and helped design and build their own quarters.
The tour will begin from the Newark Museum at 49 Washington St. at 10:30 a.m., and return there before 5 p.m. There will be light refreshments along the way, but passengers are advised to bring their own bag lunches.
The first stop will be the Ironbound studio and home of Emilio Serio, a professional artist. It was built in 1879 as a neighborhood school, later served as a Polish National Catholic church, and was bought 38 years ago by Serio – who displays many of his paintings in the former sanctuary, and still sometimes rings the bell in its small tower. Second stop will be a 19th century factory that is now the loft home of husband-and-wife architects and their infant son.
Then the bus will go to the 35-story Art Deco tower built just before the Depression and known for decades as the Raymond-Commerce Building. Now it has been transformed into luxury apartments with many amenities, and is attracting new residents to downtown.
A townhouse complex still under construction on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard will also be visited. “We want to show that the Newark Housing Authority is now building homes that are compatible with historic neighborhoods,” said Del Tufo.
The tour group will visit an apartment in Colonnade Park, overlooking Branch Brook Park and the New York skyline. The 20-story glass-and-steel buildings, opened nearly 50 years ago, were designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a master of modern architecture.
A stark contrast will be a small carriage house in a lush green setting, once part of a large estate in still-fashionable Forest Hill. The new owners are expanding and rehabilitating the century-old dwelling with plans that will enhance its original charm.
The trip will conclude with sherry and conversation at the Plume House, built about 1725 by a wealthy colonial family on what was then the edge of a small village. The old stone house, which still retains wide-board floors and ornate mantels, has served since 1850 as the rectory of the House of Prayer Episcopal Church. Historical photos and materials about the house will be displayed.
The cost of the tour is $30 for adults, with a $5 discount for members of the Landmarks Committee, and $10 for children under 12. Reservations are required and can be made by phone at the group’s office, 973-622-4910.
Past Tours:
Closing the Year in Sacred Spaces Five Historic Churches in New Year's Eve Tour Five landmark churches in Newark, reflecting varied ethnic traditions and lavishly decorated for Christmas, were visited on a tour at the start of New Year's Eve. As in past tours at Christmas and Easter, the event drew a large and enthusiastic turnout – the bus was filled, and at least one family followed in their car. Elizabeth Del Tufo, who led the excursion for the Newark Preservation & Landmarks Committee, said it was "a unique opportunity to end this year in some of the most beautiful sacred spaces in our city. These are places where generations of Newarkers from very different backgrounds have found spiritual inspiration and expressed their cultures." The tour aboard a chartered bus went to churches representing African-American, Russian, Italian, Polish, and other traditions of worship, music and art. Four are on the National Register of Historic Places, and all have undergone restorations. The first stop was at New Hope Baptist Church, right on time for a rousing service. The 103-year-old congregation doubled the size of its red-brick building 20 years ago. Its musical program is led by Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney Houston, and its choir has included Melba Moore and Dionne Warwick. The tour group then went to Sacred Heart Cathedral Basilica, one of the largest in the nation. Designed in the style of a French Gothic cathedral, the soaring edifice took 56 years to build. It was dedicated in 1954, and elevated to basilica status by Pope John Paul II after his 1995 visit to Newark. In striking contrast was the small Russian Orthodox Church of Our Lady of Kazan, a fomer Episcopal edifice in the heart of the Forest Hill Historic District. Noted for ornate decor and icons, this church was still preparing for its Christmas on Jan.7, in accordance with the Orthodox Christian calendar. St. Lucy's Roman Catholic Church, the next stop, displayed its famed creche, a 30-foot-long model of an Italian hillside village with 100 figures, centered on the infant Jesus in a stable. St. Lucy's was long the focal point of Newark's Little Italy, and still holds street festivals in honor of St. Gerard. The final stop was St. Casimir's R.C. Church in the Ironbound, which also was built by immigrants a century ago. It claims one of the largest Polish congregations in New Jersey. Its elaborate interior was restored for $3 million after a near-disastrous fire in 1997. The visitors were treated to an array of Polish pastries, and the tour concluded with a champagne toast at St. Casimir's. Del Tufo has led hundreds of tours in the last 30 years. She is a past president of the landmarks committee, and for 16 years also chaired the city's Historic Preservation Commission. She is working on tours for later in 2007, and they will be announced here.
To receive printed notices of NPLC tours, send your name and address to Newark Landmarks, P.O. Box 1066, Newark, NJ 07101. Or call and leave a message at the Committee’s office, 973-622-4910.
Famed writer Philip Roth looks at a souvenir booklet prepared by NPLC President William Mikesell during a tour of sites mentioned in his books. Liz Del Tufo, tour leader, is at the right in this crowd outside Roth's boyhood home in Weequahic. Author Joins Tour of 'Philip Roth's Newark' Participants in a landmarks tour saw many of the settings for Philip Roth's prize-winning novels, and then met the celebrated Newark-born author himself. The five-hour bus tour of "Philip Roth's Newark" on Oct. 23, 2005 was one of the most successful ever held by the Newark Preservation & Landmarks Committee. Roth, one of the most distinguished authors to come from the city, has used his hometown as a backdrop for many of the 26 books he has written during the past half-century. He has won every major American literary award, including the Pulitzer Prize, and became only the third living writer to have his works selected for the Library of America. He joined the tour group at the house in the Weequahic section where he lived with his family from his birth in 1933 until 1942. An historical plaque was placed on the two-family frame house and the nearby intersection of Summit and Keer avenues was renamed "Philip Roth Plaza" for the occasion. "We were thrilled to greet one of the living landmarks of American literature right where he spent his earliest years," said Elizabeth Del Tufo, who led the tour. She has guided scores of tours through the years, and formerly chaired the City of Newark's Landmarks and Historic Preservation Commission. Points of interest along the way included Weequahic High School, from which Roth was graduated in 1950. Other sights were Newark Beth Israel Hospital, where Roth was born; the old YM-YWHA on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard (formerly High Street); and the Riviera Hotel on Clinton Avenue, where Roths' parents began their honeymoon. The tour buses also traveled through Weequahic Park and the adjoining residential neighborhood, which are on the National Register of Historic Places. During the last century Weequahic was home to a large, thriving Jewish community, and it is still a prestigious area. The tour program began with a slide presentation at Congregation Ahavas Sholom at 145 Broadway, the last original synagogue still functioning in the city. Then the group went past the Newark Public Library on Washington Park, which played a major role in Roth's 1959 novel, "Goodbye, Columbus." That book won the first of his two National Book Awards.. At various points along the way, excerpts from Roth's books, which include "Portnoy's Complaint" and "American Pastoral," were read to the tour group by Robert Steinbaum, publisher of the New Jersey Law Journal. Former Mayor Sharpe James and Newark City Historian Charles Cummings (who died two months later) joined Roth in dedicating the historical plaque at his old home, and designating the street corner in honor of the author. The house and the neighborhood provide settings for scenes in Roth's best-selling 2003 novel, "The Plot Against America." Roth, who lives now in Connecticut, said in a recent interview that he draws on his memories of Newark to provide authentic environments in his books. "In some places around my neighborhood, I am still able to see what used to be there," he declared. At the conclusion of the tour, the author told his fans that the honor from his native city meant as much to him as a Nobel Prize. He had been a finalist for the 2005 award in literature shortly before the Newark event. Through the years the Landmarks Committee has conducted many tours of churches, homes, public buildings, cemeteries, and historic districts. Most have been led by Del Tufo, who also operates a private tour business. |
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