Upgrade Planned for Huber Woods Reptile House

MIDDLETOWN – The Reptile House at Huber Woods Park is getting an overhaul to benefit visitors, workers and reptiles and amphibians making their home there.
“Upgrade the whole thing,” said Sam Skinner, a Monmouth County Park System naturalist based at Huber Woods. “It is one of the most popular attractions at Huber Woods.”
The Reptile House was built as a garage in 1927 at the former Huber family estate, said Karen Livingstone, a Park System spokeswoman. The one-story, approximately 35 feet by 27 feet, wood building was converted to the Reptile House in the 1990s, according to the Park System.
The Reptile House has an assortment of about two dozen snakes, turtles, frogs, toads and lizards – a combination of locally native and non-native species. Recently, the roster included various snakes (rat, northern pine, Eastern king and so on), turtles (box, musk, snapping, spotted), Fowler’s toads, diamondback terrapins and Carolina anole lizard.
The Carolina anole, a native of the southeastern United States, “was a hitchhiker on some trees” the Park System bought, Skinner said.
The reptiles and amphibians are a combination of found, donated and raised from eggs, Skinner said.
Now, the public has access to displays on a narrow, S-shaped hallway about 25-feet-long.
“You go in, it’s really tight quarters,” Skinner said. “Right now, we limit it to about 10 people.”
There are only 12 display cases. So, animals are rotated in and out of displays.
“The building requires overall exterior and interior repairs and improvements,” Livingstone said. “The exhibit areas and work spaces are cramped and do not meet program needs.”
Also, the building does not meet handicap-access standards, along with having outdated, hand-made animal displays, according to the Park System.
The plan calls for maintaining the outside look of the building. The building shares design features with the mansion, which is now the park’s Environmental Center, and contributes to the history of the property, Livingstone said.
The Reptile House project has a preliminary estimate of $300,000 to $350,000, Livingstone said.
“Hopefully, we’re going to get it all done this year,” Skinner said.
The project is in its early stages, with Yezzi Associates of Toms River coming out in late February to begin architectural work. On Jan. 29, the county Board of Recreation Commissioners, which oversees the Park System, awarded Yezzi a contract not to exceed $31,000.
The Park System has been talking about the renovations for 12 or so years, Skinner said. Now, it finally has got its turn.
At some point during renovations, the Reptile House will have to close, but when and for how long has not been determined, Skinner said.
“Once we get past the design stages, all this will have to be lined out,” Skinner said.
Huber Woods became a park in 1974, with a 118-acre donation from the Huber family and the J.M. Huber Corporation. The park, which is basically a combination of woods and fields, has been expanded to 376 acres.
The Park System also has a reptile and amphibian display, along with fish on display, at Manasquan Reservoir Park in Howell.