By Sunayana Prabhu
HOLMDEL – The push to save the horn antenna that helped confirm the Big Bang theory of universe creation has grown, with over 7,000 supporters signing an online petition launched by three community groups. The coalition presented its petition to the township committee, asking it to memorialize the Holmdel Horn in perpetuity.
Scientists, activists, concerned citizens and the three groups – Citizens for Informed Land Use (CILU), Friends of Holmdel Open Space (FOHOS) and Preserve Holmdel (PH) – urged township committee members at the meeting March 14 to preserve the 42-acre property at 791 Crawford Hill that houses the antenna as a “public park with public access for passive recreation,” said Karen Strickland, co-president of CILU, who read the petition on behalf of the three groups.
While the online petition continues to raise awareness of the scientific significance of the Holmdel Horn, the purpose of an in-person reading was to keep an “official record of the petition” that Strickland said has been gaining support from renowned names in the scientific community.
The township had approved a resolution in November to refer the property to the planning board for redevelopment investigation on a noncondemnation basis. At the Tuesday meeting, township attorney Michael Collins made a last-minute addition to the consent agenda, announcing a modification in that resolution to a condemnation basis.
If adopted, the resolution modified to a condemnation basis would allow the township to condemn the property to legally acquire it.
Concerned citizens are both hopeful and concerned with this change. The Holmdel Horn would still be at risk if the township decides “to remove the horn antenna and to rezone the property for a high-density residential development,” Strickland said.
Many have urged township officials to take the lead in exploring all opportunities with partners both public and private to acquire the entire site as a park with public access and to preserve and maintain the horn antenna at its historic location.
Fred Carl, who established the InfoAge Science History Center at the Army’s World War II radar development laboratory known as Camp Evans, was at the meeting to support preservation of the Holmdel Horn. Carl told The Two River Times he had presented a “vision” to the township committee for a museum at the site by working with the “existing building to add an astronomy and cosmology learning center.” He suggested something small, just a building and the horn, which could be “manageable for the community” and serve its educational and preservation purposes for future generations.
According to Strickland, residents recently approved an increase in the municipal open space tax so that funds are available to preserve high-priority properties such as the Holmdel Horn site.
The property includes an approximate 50,000-squarefoot research laboratory visible from Holmdel Road. Portions of the property near the horn are level and could support a playground or picnic area. The remainder of the property is mostly mature forests with steep slopes, limited road access and several walking hiking trails.
Formerly owned by Bell Labs and then Nokia, the property is currently privately owned by Crawford Holdings LLC. The site is equally valuable in its scientific significance: The Holmdel Horn Antenna, which sits atop the highest point in the county, was a satellite communication antenna and radio telescope used during the 1960s and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. In 1965, radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson used the antenna to discover the cosmic microwave background radiation that permeates the universe, providing evidence to confirm the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe. In 1978 Penzias and Wilson received the Nobel Prize for Physics for their discovery.
Mayor DJ Luccarelli told The Two River Times after the meeting that the township definitely wants to preserve the site but cannot give details yet since they are still in “negotiations” with the owner.
Resident Janet Jackel noted the number of renowned members of the scientific community who have joined the call to preserve the site for educational purposes, including Peter Vetter, current co-president of Nokia Bell Labs; prominent Nobel Prize-winning scientist Steven Chu; and Turning Award winner and Bell Labs scientist Yann LeCun. Scientific organizations like the Vatican Observatory have called attention to the antenna’s scientific importance.
Quoting a professor who was inspired by the Holmdel Horn, Jackel said, “tearing it down is like sweeping away Neil Armstrong’s footprints on the moon.”
The article originally appeared in the March 16 – 22, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
