Buildings provide snapshot of town's first 116 years

BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

At a glance, one might think the workers left yesterday afternoon to resume work the next day.

Production machinery sits poised for action, powdery snuff lying in wait. A packaging machine is loaded with empty tins to be finished and filled. Rolls of cardboard sit near another machine that will turn them into containers for the finished product.

Nearly a decade-and-a-half has passed since the Helmetta snuff mill ceased packing operations, but many components of its working days remain.

"The technology is just fascinating," said Joe Sapia, a local historian who once worked at the mill.

A vivid picture of past technologies is painted by the mill's artifacts. Primitive-looking hydrometers once measured the moisture levels of the product. Power panels covered with multicolored buttons performed tasks like quality control. Sapia recalled a promotional datebook distributed at the mill. It pictured his cousin, Andy Gromena, in front of one of the panels, with a caption reading, "Cape Canaveral? Guess again." What would be seen as antiquated by today's standards was touted as part of the mill's $2 million modernization program in 1963.

JEFF GRANIT staff Kathryn Hackett-Fields, president of the Helmetta Historical Society, takes a sign from the snuff mill's final year as one of several items the group is holding onto for preservation as a proposed redevelopment project for senior housing proceeds. Much of the remaining equipment in the main buildings along the railroad track on Main Street was left behind by people who bought auctioned lots in the months after the mill ceased snuff packing in April 1993. A lot may have been purchased for one specific item, and other unwanted equipment was simply left behind, according to Chuck Tint, project manager for Kaplan Cos., which now owns the mill and plans to redevelop it with senior housing and retail.

The plan to redevelop the former snuff mill site was initially somewhat controversial, with historians and others reluctant to lose a sort of monument that represented the birth of Helmetta. As the Kaplan team adapted its plan to allow for the main mill buildings to be saved however, it appears a happy medium has been reached.

"As far as saving the buildings, so far this is the best plan I've heard," Sapia said.

Kaplan is expected to submit a site plan to the borough's Planning Board in the near future.

"With the project, we are giving them a new community facility that can be used by the entire borough of Helmetta," said Jason Kaplan, president of the company. "The benefits definitely outweigh the costs."

Sapia, along with Kathryn Hackett-Fields, president of the town's historical society, went into mill buildings Tuesday to salvage and document valuable artifacts. In a visit last week to one of three one-story buildings slated for demolition in the next few weeks, Hackett-Fields found racks of large jars, some containing chemicals with vague warnings for those allergic to iodine, as well as records and ledgers.

Tuesday's hunt produced a motivational sign for mill workers reading, "Let's all go safely thru '92." Other items salvaged were bottles and shelving units, as well as a topographical map of the borough, produced in the 1970s or 1980s, according to Tint. While it is unclear who produced the map, "urban design team" is printed on the bottom of it, and it presents a redevelopment plan that was never to be.

"Nothing too romantic [was found]," Hackett-Fields said. "The best part is all the wood."

The one-story storage building was made using pegged and grooved construction, with thick, solid beams that are rarely found in modern buildings. In the main sections of the mill, one can observe the evolution of construction techniques while walking through sections spanning from 1877 to 1948.

"It was like walking through a museum for [the Kaplans' structural engineer]," Tint said, adding, "These timbers are still real solid."

The main mill buildings will be converted to approximately 235 age-restricted residential units. Issues with the 100-year flood plain elevation levels are in the midst of being resolved, according to Jason Kaplan.

A hydrology expert for Kaplan Cos. found flaws in the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) flood plain model, and drew up a revised study. While the state put the flood plain elevation at 44.8 feet, the Kaplans' consultant found it to be at 42.8 feet. The elevation represents the point at which the developers cannot construct housing units below. At a council meeting Sept. 27, representatives for Kaplan Cos. said their plan could be seriously compromised if the new study was not approved by the state.

"We've met with the state, and they understood the problems with the model," Tint said. "If they reject our model, a lot of the site would not be usable. We'd lose some of the site, I wouldn't say a lot."

Kaplan said his consultant is working with the DEP to revise the existing plan, and that it looks as if the inconsistencies will be ironed out.

"Hopefully, we'll be heard by the Planning Board early next year," Kaplan said.

Before the project begins full-force, Kaplan is allowing for pieces of the mill's history to be preserved, not only through salvaged artifacts, but also through video recordings and photographs. The artifacts will be temporarily stored at the borough hall, according to Hackett-Fields, until it is determined where they will find a permanent home.