By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
FORT MONMOUTH – As work got underway to prepare Fort Monmouth’s Avenue of Memories (Route 537) to reopen as a public thoroughfare for the first time since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it became apparent it was not just another job for employees of the Monmouth County Department of Public Works and Engineering.
One by one, stories began to emerge about their familial connections to the fabled Army base.
“A lot of personnel have ties to the fort,” John Tobia, director of Public Works and Engineering, said recently. “Family members worked there. The grandparents of one of our supervisors met on the base. My great-grandfather, grandfather, and aunt worked there or were stationed here. A lot of the guys remember driving through as kids.”
The Avenue of Memories runs from Route 35 in Eatontown at the front gates of Fort Monmouth to Oceanport Avenue in Oceanport. Prior to 9/11, the public was able to access this road as a thoroughfare between the two towns. After 9/11, and until the fort’s closure in 2011, the road was secured and open only through an ID checkpoint to military personnel, Department of Defense civilians and those with business on the fort.
Improving and upgrading the road and its immediate surroundings, along with preserving and “cleaning up” the over 100 stone monuments along it has become a personal mission for county workers. Tobia said the monuments were installed in memory of members of the Signal Corps who gave their lives for their country over the years the fort was operational.
The county will complete the work, then maintain the Avenue of Memories as part of a financial arrangement between the U.S. Army, the county, and the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) expected to be finalized within weeks. By the end of 2016, the Army will transfer final ownership of the fort to the state through FMERA. To hasten the final transfer, FMERA will purchase the remaining fort parcels from the Army for $33 million with a loan from the Monmouth County Improvement Authority. About $10 million is expected to be repaid through proceeds from the sale of fort parcels, some currently in various stages of completion. The Improvement Authority will back the bonds, and FMERA must make payments over seven years.
The Avenue of Memories includes Saltzman Avenue and Sherrill Avenue/Wilson Avenue. The county hopes to dedicate the roadway as a public right-of-way by late fall.
and maintained as the fort is redeveloped. Photo by Anthony V. Cosentino
Reopening Route 537 through the fort, which spans portions of Eatontown, Oceanport, and Tinton Falls, has long been requested by residents for convenience and traffic relief along busy Routes 35, 36, and adjacent thoroughfares. Built by the Army, the road’s physical condition and width didn’t meet modern county road standards and specifications.
Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas Arnone, liaison to the Department of Public Works and Engineering, initially met with Tobia and County Engineer Joe Ettore to review and inspect the road prior to the start of work. County staff then began fixing the drainage system, trimming trees, mowing, and installing traffic markings, signs, signals, and lighting.
“We began August 22, which is significant,” Tobia said. “August 20 was the 99-year anniversary of the fort opening. Guys took pride they were working to open the road 99 years later. Now, the Army, freeholders, FMERA, and our department members are all coming together to open it up in a significant time period.”
“They are doing the work with tender loving care, dedication, and commitment in preserving the monuments,” Arnone said. “It’s a home run that will entice development even more.” Various layers of security are in place to keep the fort, its structures, and the public safe and secure once the Avenue of Memories becomes operational.
The monuments will be preserved along with the red brick “Johnson Gate” entry arches at the Route 537 entrance of the fort. Other monuments are located throughout the base, including one dedicated to World War II, which has also been spruced up by county workers.
Bruce Steadman, FMERA executive director, said monuments not among those lining the Avenue of Memories may be consolidated into two locations with parking for public access, perhaps in a park-like atmosphere. The monuments along the Avenue of Memories will remain in place he said, adding “John Tobia has expressed a strong interest in keeping them where they were installed.”
“Our personnel in all divisions totally work as a team, going 110 percent on all special projects, but on this one, they take unique and personal pride,” Tobia said. “They want to make the road safe and aesthetically pleasing, but are especially enthusiastic about preserving the fort’s past.”
“John Tobia and his staff are very dedicated to the memorials and are working tirelessly,” said Freeholder Lillian Burry, the county’s representative on FMERA who crafted the financial package with the Monmouth County Improvement Authority. County trucks and green-clad staff are working throughout the fort on landscaping, upkeep, and maintenance. Attendees at the September monthly FMERA meeting observed crews trimming trees outside FMERA offices at 7 p.m. All work is being done in an in-kind arrangement as part of the financial agreement.
#3 (Johnson Gates) – The Route 537 entrance to Fort Monmouth, known as the Johnson Gates, are being retained and maintained as the fort is redeveloped.
