Chaletmomma

Friends I’ve became involved with an initiative to stop the demolition of our library and town hall.

A Town Council, as a temporary steward should want to preserve all history in town for the next generation and the one after that but, the current administration doesn’t care about our unique history.

I’ve shared on Instagram about a petition I was a part of circulating and what we hoped to accomplish - which was to stop the destruction of these buildings for a new monolithic structure that would encroach on our protected town green and not be in keeping with the historic nature of our town.

In addition, the town is looking to change the traffic flow on main street by removing travel lanes and traffic lights and changing existing side streets from one way traffic patterns to two way traffic by removing parking for homeowners and business owners.

None of this is what most residents think would be good for our town.

Our petition was brought before council in May to little response. I have attended meetings via zoom and they finally started holding them in person June 14, 2022.

I feel very strongly about our Library - a building I frequented weekly as a child with my Mother - who’s love of reading I inherited. Also it’s a cool old building built in 1917 based on funding received from the Carnegie Foundation. Our Library was designated a local landmark in 2017 in celebration of it’s 100th anniversary. I’ve been a past member of the Library Foundation - the fundraising group that works on behalf of the Library to seek funding for things outside the Borough of Caldwell operating budget for the Library.

In 2017 there were 12 Carnegie Libraries still standing in Northern New Jersey. There were 36 Libraries built on Carnegie Grants. Click here to read.

The building was added to the 10 Most Endangered Historical Sites In NJ 2022 on May 17, 2022 by much hard work by our local Historic Preservation Commission (I am a former member). The Commission submitted documentation for approval of State and National Landmark Status July 20, 2022 - hoping since the structure has been added to the endangered list the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office will reverse it’s 2017 opinion and grant this building state landmark status.

The Town Hall was built during the 1930’s and was a WPA project.

And while both structures could use some major sprucing up… the need for elevators, additions and maintenance for underlying issues… neither is so far gone they need to be bulldozed. Both are masonry buildings. Masonry buildings can withstand much and be adapted to meet modern criteria.

The Borough did not hire experts to deem these structures unsalvageable. They met with town employees who put together a want list.

The town originally founded in 1798 was much larger and encompassed many square miles. The area population grew and sections broke off to become their own municipalities (West Caldwell, North Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Roseland and parts of Livingston) and current day Caldwell, NJ was established in 1892.

I know I am bias - I am a third generation and never wanted to live anywhere else. I love walking the same streets I did as a child. The current powers that be in town hall do not seem to appreciate our character and charm. We do not want to be another small city in New Jersey - we want to remain Caldwell.

We are also the birthplace of President Grover Cleveland!

Our main street 1885 and today. The Presbyterian Church stands proudly in both images!

On July 21, 2022 the Council voted 4-2 in favor of demolition of both the Caldwell Public Library and the Borough Hall. The Borough Administrator Consultant stated he plans to meet with Essex County for review.

This complex is to include a single structure with the Borough offices, Court, Library and Police Department and a separate parking deck.

This administration wants to eliminate the traffic light at Provost Square - the plan below is dated March 14, 2022 and still the only plan that is available on the Borough website.

It encompasses not only the street but, also much of the Town Green but, the town green is protected by Green Acres - so it precipitated the need for revisions… and why didn’t they know this before these plans were drawn up…no one can answer. The public has been told these are 3 plans ago…and the $$$ for plans continues. And they are adding onto our Community Center too!

On Friday July 29, 2022 at 5:40pm the Borough of Caldwell's Online Newsletter was sent to the residents who have signed up for it. I’ve signed up but, did not receive. The Newsletter contains a Proposed Site Plan for Caldwell Municipal Complex. The building is smaller than previous iterations because of the green and other restrictions. The access road from the complex is still eliminated but, this “new” plan is not on the Borough Website - Nor are any schematics for the actual building. Questions raised by concerned citizens have still not been addressed.

It’s like talking into a void. We keep talking at meetings. We keep posting on Facebook Pages and they keep ignoring us. This is a 1.2 square mile town. Where the Mayor and 6 Council members are our neighbors. As I said in one post - I know many people because of living here my entire life and my son… and I have not found anyone who supports this new plan.

The phrase Truth is Stranger than Fiction is so true friends… I could not in my wildest dreams make all this up.

I thank you for allowing me to share my life with all of you here. The work to save the historic structures continues!

Be Well.

Images: Borough of Caldwell, Caldwell Public Library, Richard Gibbs.

I had the very good fortune of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art this past Saturday. While I was there I took in the exhibit of Louise Bourgeois paintings. They were full of unimaginable forms. It closes August 7, 2022 so if you’re able you should pop by this week and head to gallery 913. But if you can’t here are a few images I captured.

I did a bit of research and here’s a brief overview of the artist. Louise Joséphine Bourgeois December 25, 1911 – May 31, 2010 was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art. She was also a prolific painter and printmaker. She explored many themes over her career including: the body, death, family, feminism and sexuality. Her work is Abstract Expressionism.

Her parents owned a gallery selling antique tapestries - and a workshop for restoration. Louise worked on the tapestries filling in areas of missing design.

In 1930, she entered the La Sorbonne - Université to study mathematics a subject she valued for stability, saying "I got peace of mind, only through the study of rules nobody could change." After her mother passed away in 1932 Louise changed her course of study to art graduating in 1935. Her father thought modern artists were wastrels and refused to support her, so she joined classes where translators were needed for American students and received tuition free. She continued her art study in Paris, first at the École des Beaux-Arts and École du Louvre and in 1938, she opened her own gallery in a space next door to her father’s tapestry gallery where she showed the work of artists such as Eugène Delacroix, Henri Matisse and Suzanne Valadon. This is where she met her husband Robert Goldwater - an American professor who taught at New York University. They settled in New York City and together raised 3 sons. They remained married until Robert’s death in 1973.

Throughout her life she created works finding inspiration from her own life experiences. She held her first solo show in 1945. In 1951 she became an American citizen. In 1954 she became part of the American Abstract Artists Group. At this time she was also friendly with artists Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock. She has been quoted to say "My work deals with problems that are pre-gender," she wrote. "For example, jealousy is not male or female." With the rise of feminism, her work found a wider audience becoming an icon of the feminist art movement.

In 1973 she started teaching at the Pratt Institute, Cooper Union, Brooklyn College and the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture. From 1974 - 1977, Bourgeois worked at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She also taught for many years in the public schools in Great Neck, Long Island.

Louise received her first retrospective in 1982 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 1989 there was another retrospective at Documenta 9 in Kassel, Germany. In 2000 her works were selected to be shown at the opening of the Tate Modern in London. In 2001, she showed at the Hermitage Museum.

She continued to create until her death, her last pieces being finished the week prior to her passing in May 2010.