The little Saltbox House down in Torne Valley has helped do a few mighty deeds. One in particular has taken place this spring when the Ford Motor Co. came to Torne Valley to do paint sludge cleanup.
“It shows that historic preservation and ecological restoration work hand in hand.” — Chuck Stead on winning the Preservation Leadership Merit Award.
The work has been very visible from Orange Turnpike where it turns into Rt. 59, across the Norfolk Southern Railway tracks. Big equipment tore out trees and cleared land near a United Water well field, creating both a staging area to house old paint sludge and to clean up the toxic mess itself.
Both the remediation effort and the Saltbox have been a long time coming, and Chuck Stead, an environmental educator with Cornell University Cooperative Extension and Ramapo College, has been a driving force behind both efforts.
Sunday, May 19, Stead’s work in Torne Valley will be acknowledged by the Rockland County Historical Society when he’s awarded the 2013 Historical Preservation Leadership Award.
“I’m a tricky fellow,” Stead said from his Saltbox home away from home. “I usually don’t like awards but I’m happy to accept this. I think it’s important because of the category,” Stead said. “It shows that historic preservation and ecological restoration work hand in hand.”
Stead said that the Ramapo Saltbox Environmental Research Center on Torne Valley Road in Hillburn is an important project that ties together all facets of environmental preservation and historical preservation.
“If we’re going to do projects like this, and we’re going to spend tax payers money, then they should be community oriented — let’s save the structure that embodies environmental stewardship,” Stead said.
The Saltbox was dedicated in October of 2012 after years of planning and preparation and construction, and is a reassembled, 200 year old iron-workers’ saltbox style house that serves as museum, classroom and research center.
Stead credited Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence as being instrumental in the success of the project.
“It is a major feather in his cap,” said Stead. “He’s been able to use this Saltbox project as leverage with Ford. It’s been wonderful.”
The Ramapo Saltbox in Torne Valley now serves an educational and environmental beacon and draws Ramapo College undergrad interns, Rockland BOCES high school students, who use the project as part of a job/skills program, as well as visiting groups of students, including the Antioch School of Environmental Studies in New Hampshire, and the Rockland County Americorp program.
The Historic Preservation Awards presented in recognition of outstanding historic preservation efforts in Rockland County, and are awarded to both individuals, organizations, businesses or municipal representatives for achievements which have contributed to the continued preservation of the county’s significant historical and cultural heritage.
Additional awards include Preservation/Restoration, 167 East Central Avenue, Pearl River, Thomas M. Mingone, Capital Management Group; Preservation/Restoration, Bridge Street Bridge, Piermont, The County of Rockland Highway Department; Continuing Use, Relief Hose No. 3, Haverstraw; Adaptive Use, Jan Degenshein, Architect, Supportive Living Facility for Women; and The Margaret B. and John R. Zehner Award to Firth Haring Fabend.
The 23rd Annual Rockland County Executive’s Historic Preservation Merit Awards take place Sunday, May 19, at The Historical Society of Rockland County’s Jacob Blauvelt Historic Site at 20 Zukor Road, New City, NY. The Country Dinner and awards ceremony take place from 5-7 p.m. For more information, call 845.634.9629.
Thanks to Geoff Welch and Bill Batson for use of images related to the Rockland Historical Society photo (Bill rendered the fantastic poly panel logo and Geoff contributed the original Chuck Stead in window head shot).
