One possible option for Fort Hancock
Plan put forward
by Tinton Falls developer among those presented
By GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer

A glass-enclosed nature observatory with sweeping views of New York Harbor and a visual arts guild are part of a proposal for the redevelopment of Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook that the public will not get to see.

The features are part of a master plan proposal submitted by developer Philip G. Crifasi Jr. in response to the National Park Service’s request for proposals for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of Fort Hancock’s historic buildings.

Crifasi’s Sandy Hook Lodge and Conference Center plan would encompass 35 buildings and calls for a conference center and nature observatory in the northern section of the peninsula, space for cultural arts in the midsection and educational and office use in the southern section along Officers Row and the Barracks buildings.

"For the first time it makes Sandy Hook accessible to the public for what it is," said Crifasi, who sees his plan as more appropriate and less commercial than a plan currently being touted by the park service.

"The emphasis is on the natural attributes of Sandy Hook," he said. "It will blend Fort Hancock in with the natural features and preserve Sandy Hook as it is as opposed to setting it apart."

This and 21 other proposals submitted will not be made public by the park service until it has finalized a historic lease agreement with Sandy Hook Partners, LLC, or another developer, according to Sandy Hook Superintendent Russel Wilson.

The park service has signed a Letter of Intent with Sandy Hook Partners, headed by James Wassel, for a master plan for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of 36 buildings, representing more than 300,000 square feet.

Ten proposals were chosen for presentation to a park service panel in December 1999. In addition to Crifasi’s and Wassel’s, proposals were submitted by the American Littoral Society, the Community YMCA of Red Bank, the city of Englewood, Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater, N.J. Historic Divers Association, Sandy Hook Academy, Peninsula House and Garden Vegetarian Inn.

The park service has released an environmental assessment of the impact the $65 million-$72 million Sandy Hook Partners proposal would have on the area. The public comment period on the assessment will close April 15.

Crifasi, a Tinton Falls developer with experience in historic restoration projects, is the developer of the Jersey City Waterfront Historic Preservation Project.

He told The Hub the park service’s refusal to make the proposals public prompted his coming forward. The park service process, he said, should include the community.

Crifasi said he worked closely with park officials on his plan, spent a year working on it, and his was regarded as the front-runner among the proposals submitted so he was surprised when Wassel’s project was chosen.

Crifasi’s $60 million proposal includes a partnership with Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, to support a maritime program, and $8 million in funding for the program.

The development would be the first "green community" in the state, Crifasi said, using a holistic approach to design and restoration throughout.

According to the proposal, the developer would make an initial, one-time payment of $500,000 to the park service at the lease inception, and pay a $1.65 per square foot service district charge to the park service. Staubach Co., New York, would be the primary investor in the project.

Buildings on the northern end of Fort Hancock, including the Officer’s Club and Mule Barn, would be used for a self-contained, year-round, 145,000-square-foot conference center with 150 overnight rooms and accessory amenities. The complex would blend existing and new structures, economically and functionally into a cohesive whole, Crifasi said.

Within the northern section his plan proposes Fort Hancock’s first Nature Wildlife Observatory. The glass-enclosed, observatory, which would meet federal Americans with Disabilities Act standards, would be built atop 9 Gun Battery and would usable year-round.

A 100-slip floating, seasonal marina/fishing pier/ferry dock would be located in the midsection of Fort Hancock where it would support public recreation and research uses without fuel services. The marina would help cut down on traffic and channel visitors to the midsection, where the Visitors Center will be relocated, Crifasi said.

In response to a request for access to the proposals, Sandy Hook Superintendent Russel Wilson told The Hub last week the newspaper would have to file a specific request under the Freedom of Information Act.

The park service’s own "Request for Proposals" includes a section titled "Use and Disclosure of Proposal Information."

In its opening paragraph the section states, "All proposals and information received in relation to this request will be subject to disclosure unless specifically identified by the respondent as a ‘trade secret’ or ‘confidential commercial or financial information.’ "

In addition, the disclosure section advises that even information deemed a trade secret or confidential by the proponent could be subject to disclosure if a request for access is made.

The park service, it says, is not liable if information not labeled is disclosed and information not labeled will be treated "as evidence that the information is not exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act."

According to Wilson, the park service and The Hub differ in interpreting the section on disclosure.