HOWELL – A piece of Howell history is in desperate need of repair and the only way to fix it is through fundraising.
The MacKenzie Museum and Library, 427 Lakewood-Farmingdale Road (Route 547), was once home to the Howell Historical Society and still holds many historic artifacts. However, the museum has been closed for years because it requires more than $150,000 in renovations.
The home had its origins as a settler’s cabin sometime between 1730-50. A grist mill was built in 1779, turning the cabin into the miller’s home.
In 1850, Isaac Nesbit purchased the property. Nesbit asked his brother to be his partner to help run the mill and then built an addition to the cabin to house his brother’s family.
The mill burned down in the 1920s. In 1956, Jessie and James MacKenzie purchased the house and the MacKenzie family owned it until 1982.
“Jessie was a good friend of mine,” said Virginia Woolley, who was a charter member of the Howell Historical Society.
Woolley recommended that MacKenzie donate the house to Howell. The historical society had recently finished renovating the old Ardena schoolhouse at the time of the nation’s bicentennial.
In 1982, the municipality paid for the restoration of the MacKenzie house.
“The historical society members worked so hard, there were six of us and we went to the MacKenzie Museum every Saturday for about six months to scrape paint, re-plaster and repair floorboards. We would come out of the house at noon covered in paint chips, which was lead paint, but I’m still here,” Woolley said.
The museum remains the home of records from Howell’s one-room schoolhouses, as well as family records and the genealogy of local settlers.
“We had a historian from Princeton University come to the museum and he said we had things he had not seen anywhere else,” Woolley said.
Speaking at the June 13 meeting of the Howell Township Council, Sandra Solly, a former member of the Howell Historical Society, said restoring the MacKenzie house would benefit the town economically and socially.
Elaine Taylor, the last president of the Howell Historical Society, said, “Let me just speak from the heart. I feel really bad we are not offering any historic education to anyone. The MacKenzie house is supposed to be for historic research and we are not offering that to the public.”
Council members said the money needed for the renovations must be generated through fundraising.
In 2015, municipal officials reviewed a 1983 lease which put significant responsibility for the maintenance of the museum on the Howell Historical Society, according to Deputy Mayor Robert Nicastro.
A renegotiated lease has put more responsibility for the township-owned museum on the municipality, he said.
Nicastro said that in 2015, the council began hearing from members of the historical society about the condition of the MacKenzie house and about how it was deteriorating.
He said officials were able to to secure a grant from Monmouth County for about $40,000.
“When we got that award we spent it on the exterior of the building, painting and improving the shutters and windows,” Nicastro said. “I was not aware there were interior structural problems until it was brought to our attention, something with the fireplace, that it was pulling away from the wall.”
Nicastro suggested that the township form a trust fund that would accept donations that could be used to fund repairs. He said the historic building is worthy of repairs, but noted that the council was and is facing many other priorities.
“Buildings like the police department and public works have day-to-day operations. The MacKenzie house has historical value and resources, but it is not used every day and it does not generate any revenue. Basically that was my thought process,” he said. “These are choices that had to be made. The council opted not to fund the $150,000 for the MacKenzie house (repairs) to try and see if we can raise as much money as we can.”
Councilwoman Pauline Smith said even though the MacKenzie house is an important piece of history, it would not be responsible of the township to spend that much money on the museum.
“It is not damage, it is just old age, it was built in a swamp, there is nothing stable there, it needs stabilization and repair from what has happened,” Smith said. “Do I believe it should be saved and taken care of? By all means 100 percent, but being on the council I have to think from both directions and people just cannot afford the taxes anymore. So we are hoping to be able to do it from donations and fundraisers.”
Maser Consulting, Red Bank, assessed the MacKenzie Museum and prepared a list of structural repairs based on priority. The report included engineering costs and estimated construction costs for each repair based solely on “general visual observations” noted in the assessment.
According to the report, the most important needed repairs include but are not limited to repairing cracks in the plaster walls ($5,000); repairing/rebuilding the brick chimney ($3,000); installing new steel posts and concrete footings to replace basement posts ($20,000); and installing new steel posts and concrete footings in the basement for chimney support ($10,000).
The total estimated construction costs, according to the report, are $120,200, with engineering fees amounting to $30,450.
Currently, there are no tours or school trips to the museum. Municipal officials said they do not believe it is safe for more than two or three people to be inside the house at one time.
