By Joseph Sapia
HIGHLANDS – In a few days, the controversial Super Storm Sandy memorial that suddenly appeared on a Sandy Hook Bay beachfront will only be a memory.
Work began Tuesday, Jan. 3, on dismantling the controversial 1,100-square-foot concrete gazebo – dubbed “Shorehenge” by some locals who viewed it as a modern-day Stonehenge.
The demolition and removal of the debris were expected to take a week or week and a half, depending on the weather, said Borough Councilman Doug Card.
Feelings vary on the demolition.
“This was built illegally,” Card said. “DEP and CAFRA should have weighed in (first).”
The state Department of Environmental Protection oversees the state Coastal Area Facility Review Act, which regulates building in coastal areas. The DEP notified Highlands in December 2015, saying the memorial, dedicated two months earlier, did not have the necessary CAFRA approval.
Card is part of a council majority, along with Council president Carolyn Broullon and councilwoman Claudette D’Arrigo, that wanted Shorehenge removed from the property owned by the borough behind the Robert D. Wilson Memorial Community Center.
Others, such as Mayor Rick O’Neil, who took office Jan. 1, and councilwoman Rebecca Kane Wells thought the memorial, had it not been fenced off before the summer season, may have been enjoyed by the public.
Kane Wells noted the memorial was not complete – it still had to be painted and the site would have had beach grass planted around it. So, she said, the public never got to judge an end product.
The memorial is “just so functional” and could have been used for music performances, yoga or a knitting club, Kane Wells said.
“I don’t think enough was done to see if the people were interested in it,” O’Neil said. “I would have made a play to save it. But it’s too late for that now.”
It’s unclear what will replace the Sandy memorial, if anything.
Kane Wells said she would have liked to see the matter go on the ballot as a referendum that asked residents, ‘Should the memorial stay or not?’
“To me, it’s not a problem,” Kane Wells said. “I was an advocate of the project. It ended up being a political football – that’s the long and short of it.”
The road to demolition began in 2015 when the Tilt-Up Concrete Association, an Iowa-based trade group, proposed constructing the memorial because it was hold- ing its annual meeting in New Jersey. Highlands was picked, according to Tilt-Up, because it was heavily impacted during 2012’s Super Storm Sandy.
The memorial – which included benches, a concrete floor, partial walls and a roof with see-through holes – was dedicated in October 2015. It was built with donated goods and equipment valued at $250,000, along with donated labor, according to Tilt-Up.
Tilt-Up officials could not be reached for comment.
Depending on whom one talks to, the borough either OK’d moving forward with the memorial or simply was exploring the idea of the memorial. It became controversial because of its industrial look on the sandy beach, and that it blocked views of the bay.
Even if the town agreed to try to keep Shorehenge, it would have had to apply for a CAFRA permit. The permit and work to get the permit would have cost an estimated $10,000 to $15,000, Card had said.
Even then, the DEP could have denied it, Card said.
“That was the risk we had to deal with,” Card said.
One thing both sides agree on is what constitutes art, which, as with the memorial, is in the eye of the beholder.
Red Bank Recycling has an approximately $10,000 contract to dismantle and haul away Shorehenge. Once the demolition is completed and the debris removed, the DEP is to inspect the site. Highlands needs a “clean bill of health from the DEP,” Card said.
“Our goal is to mitigate that problem,” Card said.
The demolition continued Wednesday. Residents were among those who complained the concrete gazebo blocked their treasured view of the bay.
If the DEP finds the site in order, it “will issue a letter advising the Borough of Highlands that the matter has been resolved,” said DEP spokeswoman Caryn Shinske. As long as Highlands showed progress on resolving the matter, the DEP did not impose fines or take other action.
Fred Anton, who works for a Middlesex County supplier of construction materials that is a member of Tilt- Up, brought the idea for the memorial to the Highlands. On Wednesday morning, he watched it get demolished.
“I’m just sad it’s gotten to this point,” Anton said. “In my opinion, there was an agenda to this. Their problems are not with Tilt-Up, to be honest. Their problems are with themselves. There’s definitely problems in this town.”
Ken Harber, a Middletown resident who owns the borough building housing the Water Witch Coffee eatery, said, “it appears the thing was built without going through the proper procedures.”
“The average citizen wouldn’t get away with that,” Harber said.
Perhaps the town could have explored getting Shorehenge approved, Harber said. But Harber said he does not live in town.
“I have no opinion,” Harber said. “One way or another, I don’t have to look at it.”
But Liz and Mike Mahony do look at the memorial from their Beach Boulevard second home.
“It doesn’t block our view (of the bay), but it was the unsightly mess when we woke up one morning,” said Mike Mahony, a retired teacher. “It was a shocker. It looks like a bunker.”
Lori Dibble, a Highlands resident who lost her home in Sandy, thought it was a touching memorial.
“I think it’s a very beautiful piece,” Dibble said. “I think there’s been so much overblown on the view. It was absolutely gorgeously made.”
Still to be determined is what the borough will do, if anything, with the site. Previously, a small roofed pavilion stood there.
But as the memorial is demolished, Kane Wells said, “It really makes me sad.”
