Two lots that include the Holmdel Horn Antenna were appraised at $1.92 million. The township is negotiating with the property owner to purchase the site. Wikimedia Commons
By Sunayana Prabhu
HOLMDEL – The owner of the Crawford Hill property that houses the historic Holmdel Horn Antenna has 14 days to conclude “good faith negotiations” with the township and, if that fails, the committee will move to acquire the property by eminent domain.
A piece of historical and scientific significance for the township and the world, the Holmdel Horn Antenna on Crawford Hill Road is now likely to remain at its current location and available to the public.
The township committee authorized an appraisal of the Crawford Hill property June 13, which has been completed; the property was appraised at $1.92 million. At the committee’s Aug. 3 meeting, Holmdel Mayor DJ Luccarelli approved “good faith negotiations” to acquire the property for this amount from its current owner, Rakesh Antala of Crawford Hill Holdings LLC.
According to township attorney Michael Collins, Antala has two weeks to reach an agreement with the township. The governing body introduced an ordinance authorizing the use of eminent domain if he does not agree to the offered price.
Additionally, the township committee introduced a bond ordinance to fund the cost of acquisition at the appraised amount. These ordinances will be considered for final adoption at a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 22.
In a statement, earlier this week, Antala seemed skeptical of the township’s appraisal methods. “To adequately assess the value of property like Crawford Hill requires appraisers with expertise in historical landmarks and architectural conservation,” he said.
“How do you assess such a unique site that is home to the instrument that Nobel Prize-winning scientists used to assert the groundbreaking Big Bang Theory of the origins of the universe?” asked Antala. “What price do you put on that? $10 million? $20 million? $50 million?”
His statements seem to be in sharp contrast to his previous views about the horn’s value. Concern for the historic antenna grew after Antala filed an application with the town in 2022 to develop the entire property into 81 townhouses. The horn was absent from one version of the site plans and on others it had been moved from its current location. Residents and members of the scientific community who understood the horn’s significance raised an alarm that it would no longer be accessible to the public or possibly even removed from the site.
Physicists Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias utilized the Horn Antenna to detect the cosmic microwave radiation that provided irrefutable evidence of the Big Bang. Both Wilson and Penzias earned a Nobel Prize in Physics for this research in 1978. The Crawford Hill Property has been home to the Holmdel Horn Antenna for decades. In addition to confirming the Big Bang, the large microwave horn antenna was used as a satellite communications antenna and radio telescope during the 1960s at then Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Three lots encompassing nearly 42 acres make up the total Crawford Hill property. At the previous meeting the committee authorized the appraisal of Lot 6 and Lot 6.01. The appraised value includes those two lots and an access easement across Lot 7.
The bond to support the acquisition would be supported by the township’s Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, Farmland, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund. In 2021, Holmdel residents voted to increase the collection rate for this fund, which is legally restricted to be used for land acquisition and similar expenses. The bond ordinance does not contain any provision for a tax increase.
“I am excited that we took further steps towards preserving the Crawford Hill property and the Horn Antenna,” said Luccarelli. “Holmdel voters overwhelmingly supported increasing funding to the Trust Fund. As mayor I look forward to responsibly using the trust fund to complete historic property acquisition that would benefit Holmdel for generations to come.”
During the Crawford Hill property acquisition process, the township committee also authorized the planning board to determine if Lot 7 meets the criteria for an area in need of redevelopment. The planning board has scheduled a public hearing on this investigation for at 7 p.m. Aug. 15.
The article originally appeared in the August 10 – 16, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
