In Memoriam, Our Friend - Rick Mariani |
R.I.P. PALACE AMUSEMENTS 1888 to MAY 26, 2004 |
Save Tillie Beyond the Palace |
On March 26, 2004, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a waterfront redevelopment permit to the City of Asbury Park and Asbury Partners, directing Asbury Partners to preserve artifacts from the Palace Amusements complex, a National Register of Historic Places building in Asbury Park, and to reuse the artifacts in a new building that will be constructed on the Palace lots. The permit states: "Prior to demolition of the Palace, the developer will work with the City and its technical review com- mittee to identify certain parts of the existing Tilly [sic] mural and Palace Amusement building that will be relocated and preserved. The preserved sections will be incorporated into a new hotel develop- ment or retail development at this location as a part of the lobby wall. The images of the existing Palace Amusement Building shall be incorporated into the design and flavor of the new structure of [sic] the site." At a later point, the permit reiterates: "Prior to the demolition of Palace Amusements, the permittee shall coordinate with Asbury Park, the City's Technical Review Committee and DEP to identify what portions of the Palace Amusement Building and the Tilly [sic] mural that will be relocated and preserved. "Subsequent to the reservation, the permittee shall incorporate into any new hotel or retail develop- ment at this site the design and flavor of the Palace Amusement Building. The preserved mural shall be either incorporated into a lobby wall or any hotel developed or on the outside wall should the site be developed into retail space." On April 28, 2004, the Technical Review Committee (TRC) of the City of Asbury Park held a public meeting and identified elements of the Palace Amusements complex which must be relocated, preserved and reused in the new building: The TRC and Asbury Partners agreed that Asbury Partners would remove, preserve, and reuse on the new building the following metal channel lettering: * A, C, E, A, M, U, S, E, M, E, N, and S from the Lake facade. * P, A, A, and E from the Cookman facade. * A, L, A, C, A, M, U, S, E, and N from the Kingsley facade. The TRC and Asbury Partners agreed that Asbury Partners would remove, store, preserve and reuse on the following signs from the exterior of the Palace: * Shooting Gallery/Fun For All sign on the carousel house * National Register of Historic Places sign from the Fun House. The TRC and Asbury Partners agreed that Asbury Partners would remove, store, preserve and reuse on the new building: * Two wooden cutouts on the overhead doors on the Cookman side. The TRC and Asbury Partners agreed that Asbury Partners would store, preserve and reuse on the new building the following mural: * The Tillie Mural from the Cookman side. * Two Bumper Car Murals on the Lake Avenue side. This mural was removed in July, 2004. Thus far, Asbury Partners has revealed no schedule for the construction of the new building or its plans for reusing these historic artifacts. This site is brought to you by Save Tillie, an all volunteer organization comprised of 1,000 friends of Asbury Park. Founded in July of 1998, our original goal of saving the Palace's iconic Tillie image expanded in 1999 to an attempt to save the entire Palace. Under our leadership, the Palace won an honored place on the New Jersey and National registers of Historic Places. Demolition of the Palace in 2004 came over the objections of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Asbury Park Historical Society, Preservation New Jersey, and Save Tillie. In the end, we saved more than 125 internal artifacts from the Palace and the Tillie mural from the Cookman Avenue wall, and through our work the Bumper Car murels on the Lake Avenue facade were also removed to storage. |
Save Tillie... Beyond the Palace |
