April 5, 2012

The Honorable Terry Reidy

City Manager

City of Asbury Park, N.J.

One Municipal Plaza

Asbury Park, N.J. 07712-7706

Dear Mr. Reidy,

In light of the revelation that 34 antique copper panels temporarily removed from the façade of Convention Hall have been stolen, I am writing to request that you organize and participate in an inspection into the status of 32 items removed from historic Palace Amusements which are under the preservation care of the City of Asbury Park and its boardwalk redeveloper.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) Permit # 1303-03-0001.2 to the City of Asbury Park and its waterfront redeveloper in 2004.  Administration Condition #13, contained on Page 4 of the Permit, states:

"Prior to demolition of the Palace, the developer will work with the City and its technical review committee to identify certain parts of the existing Tilly (sic) mural and Palace Amusements building that will be relocated and preserved.  The preserved sections will be incorporated into a new hotel development or retail development at this location as part of the lobby wall.  The images of the existing Palace Amusements will be incorporated into the design and flavor of the new structure of (sic) the site."

Subchapter 3, Special Areas, of the Permit reiterates on Page 20:

"Prior to demolition of Palace Amusements, the permittee shall coordinate with Asbury Park, the City's Technical Review Committee and DEP to identify what portions of the Palace Amusements Building and the Tilly (sic) mural that (sic) will be relocated and preserved.

"Subsequent to the preservation, the permittee shall incorporate into any new hotel or retail development at this site, the design and flavor of the Palace Amusement Building. The preserved mural shall be either incorporated into a lobby wall or any hotel developed or on the outside wall should the site be developed into retail space."

The Conclusions section of the Permit repeats this requirement on Page 50.

On April 28, 2004, the Technical Review Committee ("TRC") of the City of Asbury Park held a public meeting to begin fulfilling its responsibility under the CAFRA permit to "coordinate" and "work" with the permittee to determine which elements of the Palace Amusements complex were to be relocated and preserved.  The meeting was attended by a DEP representative and by members of Save Tillie.

Representing the permittee, architect Nory Hazaveh of SOSH Architects, New York and Atlantic City, provided a list of external Palace features that he said the developer was prepared to relocate and preserve.  The members of the TRC accepted the list with minimal discussion.  The permittee and the TRC agreed that the permittee would remove, store, preserve and reuse on the new building the following:

Metal channel lettering:

A, C, E, A, M, U, S, E, M, E, N, and S from the Lake facade.

P, A, A, and E from the Cookman facade.

A, L, A, C, A, M, U, S, E, and N from the Kingsley facade.

Signs from the exterior of the Palace:

Shooting Gallery/Fun For All sign on the carousel house

       National Register of Historic Places sign from the Fun House

Wooden cutouts:

Two, from the overhead doors on the Cookman side

       Murals:

The Tillie mural from the Cookman side.

Two Bumper Car murals on the Lake Avenue side.

Removal, storage, and preservation of these items is one of the terms and conditions upon which the CAFRA permit was issued.  We therefore ask you to organize an inspection of the above items by the City along with members of Save Tillie and others to determine the current status of the above items.  We believe the inspection should take place during April 2012 and we urge you to be a participant in the inspection.

I look forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,

Bob Crane

Save Tillie President