Historic house on state endangered list
Mayor will spearhead drive to preserve Fortune House
BY SARAH KLEPNER
Staff Writer

T. Thomas Fortune House

Preservation New Jersey has listed the T. Thomas Fortune House as endangered and has called on Red Bank officials to save the historic structure from development.

The statewide preservation society has named the T. Thomas Fortune House as one of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites in New Jersey.

The Fortune House, at 94 Drs. James Parker Boulevard on the borough's west side, was chosen because it is the only building that has been designated a National Historic Landmark that is associated with African American history in New Jersey, Preservation New Jersey executive director Ron Emrich explained.

The circa 1883 structure is currently listed for sale by its owners, the Vaccarelli family, which once operated a bakery on the site.

"The Fortune House's one-acre lot, the largest in the area for many blocks, is extremely attractive to developers. We call on the municipal governing body, business leaders, and others to find an adaptive reuse for the building, which could become the centerpiece of the spread of revitalization from the downtown to the west side," Preservation New Jersey's Web site states.

RBHDC committee Chairman George Bowden on the steps of the Statehouse in Trenton.

Nationally prominent journalist T. Thomas Fortune bought the house (which was built around 1883) in 1901, where he wrote and edited from home and commuted to New York roughly once a week, according to Preservation New Jersey.

In 1884, Fortune founded The New York Freeman, which was renamed The New York Age in 1887.

Fortune's tenure at The New York Age for over 20 years established him as the leading African American journalist of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Under his editorial direction, the paper became the nation's most influential black paper and was used to protest discrimination, lynching, mob violence and disenfranchisement (RootsWeb).

Fortune co-founded the Afro-American League in Chicago in 1890, which was a precursor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Fortune was born a slave in Marianna, Fla., on October 3, 1856, and was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.

The Fortune House was chosen out of 300 applicants, said George Bowden, a member of the Red Bank Historic Preservation Committee (RBHPC).

This is the first time, to his knowledge, that the preservation committee in Red Bank has put a building on this list. The house has been on the National Register of Historic Buildings, as well as the state register since the 1970s.

"The listing is one further step in communicating with people of Red Bank that it's absolutely essential the house should be retained, developed and restored into what it looked like 100 years ago," Bowden said. "It's basic outreach, to educate people in the community. I would wager that if you asked, say, 25 people on the street, no more than a few are going to know about the house or anything about what [Fortune] means in Red Bank."

Preservation New Jersey has been releasing the list each year since 1995. The 2007 10 Most Endangered List has one other site in Monmouth County - the former Bell Labs facility in Holmdel.

This year's list also includes a statewide item: tear-downs - the practice of demolishing older homes in order to build bigger homes that sell for more money.

Ed Zipprich, the Red Bank Historic Preservation Committee member who filed the application, joined the committee last May.

"I jumped in feet first, hit the ground running," he said in a phone interview.

Zipprich met the current owners of the Fortune House while taking pictures for the application. He noted that the bakery which was operated on the premises starting in 1918, is part of Red Bank history as well.

The building was occupied continuously until last June, when Ray Vaccarelli, the last family member living there, died.

James Vaccarelli Jr., whose father bought the property in 1912 and started the bakery in 1918, said, "Pop started out with a horse and wagon, delivering to all the farms in the area. There were a lot of Italian families and we made Italian bread."

Vaccarelli recalled how his father made sure people didn't go without bread during the Depression.

"After the war, they came in and paid," he said.

The bakery operated behind the house until 2001. Vaccarelli declined to comment on his family's views on preserving the property.

Having fallen on hard times, Fortune sold his home at a sheriff's sale in 1911, Preservation New Jersey reports.

Fortune passed away in 1928, in Philadelphia, Pa.

Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna told the Borough Council last May 16, "This is a very, very serious issue, in the history of African American culture in New Jersey. .... We must come out affirmatively, passionately [in defense of the house]."

In an interview, Menna explained, "We have a choice: To preserve this history now or lose it forever. We should look 100 years ahead and ask ourselves what we want to leave for the future, so that what we have now is not irretrievably lost.

"This is our opportunity to say: we can preserve history, preserve a legacy for our people for generations.

"Thomas Fortune was a legend in a time and age when African Americans didn't have the visibility that they do today. If we don't do [preserve this history] now, the 5 percent who know who Thomas Fortune is now will turn into 1 percent in the future.

"We have to develop our history to make it relevant."

From both a business and an educational standpoint, preservation is important, Menna said.

"Tourism is the second largest industry in the state, and history is part of tourism. People are drawn by history," he said. "And we have to make history a living thing [for youth]."

While the building is for sale, Menna believes that demolition is not imminent.

Bowden said, "[The RBHPC doesn't] have any authority. If an application came through for demolition, we couldn't stop it."

Menna, however, expressed confidence that there are mechanisms in place which will protect the house. The RBHPC can recommend rejecting plans which threaten historic buildings when they are brought before the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Adjustments. According to Municipal Land Use Law, their recommendation carries great weight, Menna said.

Menna said that he is in the process of coordinating a campaign which brings African American organizations, including churches, the Historic Preservation Commission, and elected officials together to send the message that the community wants to preserve its heritage. He expects to be making an announcement of their plans this week.

Emrich explained that there are three main ways that a property owner can preserve a historic property, while also 'capturing value' from it.

One way is through a preservation easement, which legally prevents a portion of a property from being torn down. The preservation easement is binding in perpetuity, Emrich said.

The value of the property is captured via a tax credit.

The amount of the credit equals the difference between the appraised value of the property with and without the portion committed to the easement. The value of the easement is considered a charitable contribution.

Another way in which the building can be preserved is through an investment tax credit.

Hundreds of properties have been preserved this way, Emrich said. A corporation would save 20 percent of the cost of rehabilitation on its corporate income tax.

Emrich said, "For example, this is a little high, but say a law firm spends $1 million to restore the Fortune House. They would get a $200,000 credit against their corporate income tax."

The third way to preservation is through the various grants available either to municipalities or non-profit organizations.

"There are a lot options," Emrich said, mentioning the New Jersey Historical Trust as one source of funding.