BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
MILLTOWN — Although Michelin, a French tire manufacturer, left its first United States location on Ford Avenue in Milltown 86 years ago, the vast 22.4-acre site has been a staple in the center of town ever since.
That is why the demolition on the historic site that began on Aug. 15 is the end of what was once a bustling rubber factory in the 19th century.
It’s the first significant physical movement on the site with litigation stalling redevelopment plans for the site for over a decade. The site had been named one of the top 10 most endangered sites by the Preservation of New Jersey in 2005.
The site has 13 buildings, 11 of which are vacant.
Mayor Eric Steeber said the redevelopment plan is still in litigation; however, the owner of the property, Lawrence Berger, applied for demolition permits for the site.
Steeber said the demolition will not affect the businesses that are part of the property including the United Way, Sanns Trucking Company and a dance studio.
The water tower and the towering smokestack of the Lawrence Brook Gristmill that was in operation from 1769 to roughly 1843 would temporarily remain on site, the mayor said.
Steeber said the demolition process stalled a bit due to a water main break, but has since continued.
In May 2015, the disarray and unsafe conditions of the vacant buildings came to light after a collapse of one of the buildings.
Steeber said members of the borough’s Ford Redevelopment Agency, of which he is a member, were not happy with the conditions. He said they contracted Najarian Associates, Inc., an Eatontown-based civil and environmental engineering firm, to put together a report of demolition procedures for the site that also included environmental conditions.
The report was distributed to all the parties involved. Steeber said borough officials would be on hand if Lawrence Berger, owner of the property, would request the borough’s help in the demolition process.
Michelin, hoping to capitalize on the burgeoning American automobile market, scouted out locations in the early 1900s and chose Milltown for its first American tire factory.
Kathy Heilman, president of the Milltown Historical Society, said that in 1906, horse driven tractors began grading the property for building the many components of the rubber tire manufacturing.
By 1907 there was a power house, manufacturing buildings, a bank and cafeteria as Michelin began its first United States operations.
Heilman said at the time the buildings were built, the structure had state-of-the-art production facilities and the stairstep roofline provided maximum air circulation.
In 1916, Michelin began producing its very successful Universal Tread tire in Milltown, bringing national attention through advertisements that ran in popular magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post.
In 1919, Michelin built 53 bungalows for workers’ homes.
In the 1920s more than 2,000 people worked for Michelin in Milltown in 15 buildings that contained 475,000 square feet of factory floor. But Michelin’s market had a blowout when the economy collapsed, and the company closed its Milltown facility in 1930.
Steeber said Omar Boraie, of Boraie Development, LLC, developer for the site, is cognizant of the historic significance of the site to the Milltown community.
“Omar is a resident of the borough,” he said. “We will continue to work together [when development plans move forward] to commemorate the [historic significance of the] site in a tasteful manner.”
Heilman said she was saddened to learn of the demolition plans for the Michelin buildings in town.
“Having such a historical significance to Milltown, the state and the country, this is a huge loss,” she said. “The buildings are iconic to the landscape of Milltown and it is difficult to imagine that they could not have been repurposed or rehabbed in some way. Years ago, I contacted Michelin in the hopes that they would have an interest in the buildings for a museum, but that didn’t work out.”
Heilman said it is unfortunate if all these buildings were to be torn down, it would add to a long list of historically significant properties in Milltown that are already gone.
“Thankfully we still have things like The Mill, the Raritan River Railroad train station and the many businesses and homes on Main Street,” she said. “Milltown is a beautiful community with a rich history spanning manufacturing, medicine, legal, farming, retail, rail, religion, clubs and sports.”
Heilman said members of the Milltown Historical Society work hard to preserve the history and elements of their town.
“Michelin has a prominent place in our museum with an area dedicated to the manufacturing factory that shaped Milltown as we know it today,” she said.
Contact Kathy Chang at kchang@gmnews.com.
