Pillaged!

Hamburg landmark burglarized less than two weeks before scheduled sheriff’s sale, By Meghan Gill Hamburg - Already under siege and scheduled to be sold at sheriff’s auction, the Gingerbread Castle was breached and plundered over the weekend. According to Hamburg Police, Frank Hinger, owner of the landmark building which claims to be the first theme-park in America, called at 1:56 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13, to report that the door to the castle had been kicked open and five gingerbread men and a stained-glass window stolen from the interior. Whoever committed the burglary also caused “substantial damage” to the inside of the building and to exterior doors and windows, according to Ptl. Erik Aronson, who filed the report and who, along with Det. Paul Demott, is investigating the incident, which, Hinger told police, occurred between 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12 and early Saturday afternoon. Police are asking anyone who either has any information or who may have seen anything suspicious in the area of the Gingerbread Castle during those times to contact the Hamburg Police Department by calling 973-827-6211 or e-mailing crimetips@hamburgpolice.org. All calls will be kept confidential, police said. It was also reported that there were burglaries and many acts of criminal mischief to both abandoned Plastoid Factories, which surround the property of the Gingerbread Castle. The stolen figures lined a spiral staircase winding up the castle’s tower. Just last year, they had been repainted as part of a renovation project sponsored by a hotel chain. Late last year, a hand-made ceramic-tile mural and ceramic-tile signs on a gatepost at the entry to the castle’s courtyard were removed and offered for sale on eBay, at the Internet auction site. Councilman Daniel Barr, the borough’s liaison to the newly formed historical commission, has said that Hinger removed and sold those items. Hinger, who has not denied removing the signs, could not be reached for comment on the burglary because of disconnected phones. Hinger purchased the castle and the restaurant across the street on Gingerbread Castle Road in 2001 for $1.2 million. In early October 2006, with the lienholder, Commerce Bank, foreclosing on the castle to recover the remaining $654,866 mortgage on the property, Hinger listed the castle on eBay with an asking price of $500,000, but received no bids. He also listed two fiberglass dinosaurs for sale on uship.com back in March 2006, according to Barr. The public auction of the Gingerbread Castle is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 22, at the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office in Newton. The borough will not be a bidder at the auction because it does not have the cash for an immediate 20 percent down payment with the remainder due within 30 days. But it hasn’t abandoned hopes of saving the landmark. “I would like the ultimate outcome to be that the town gains possession of the building and restaurant,” Barr said. The borough once had offered to buy the castle and restaurant for $500,000, but Hinger turned the offer down, accusing the town of forcing him out of business and trying to take his property. In Hinger’s counter-offers to the town, he demanded to retain control of the property through a long-term, one-dollar lease, an arrangement that Mayor Paul Marino said is out of the question, as it would be using taxpayer money to support a private business. Barr hopes the 8,000-square-foot building will serve three functions if the town is able to gain possession of it: a senior center, a recreational center and a historical center. “It has taken 80 years to take possession of the town symbol,” Barr said. “It’s a total council effort.” “We simply can’t get a bond together that fast,” he said. He also said that it will be difficult for the borough to make a decision about the future of the castle until Commerce Bank or a developer acquires the property. “All of my efforts have been to save the castle,” said Barr, especially from developers who might be interested in tearing down the facility. “I would like to see someone buy it or acquire it and save the old castle. Until we get past the auction, it’s hard to comment about it,” said Marino.