Waterloo for Byram Historic Village?

Byram - As of Dec. 31, there will be no one operating Waterloo Village. The state Department of Environmental Protection announced it will cancel its lease with the non-profit Waterloo Foundation, pounding the final nail in the coffin of the management of the financially plagued tourist attraction. Facing bankruptcy and closure, the representatives of the foundation were talking to the DEP about re-forming the board of directors, according to foundation Director Dawn Robinson. DEP spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said the state is looking for a tenant that will not rely so heavily on state funding to stay afloat. The state traditionally supplies about 20 percent of the foundation’s operating costs, but that line item is missing from the 2007 state budget. A public hearing on the future of the 400-acre parcel within the Allamuchy Mountain State Park is planned for January. Makatura said the DEP will consider all public input and review all their options for keeping the village open. obinson said she will try to put together a new groups that will be among the bidders for a new lease. Makatura said it is the state’s goal to have the site open in the spring when school field trips make up much of its business. Waterloo has operated as a historic restoration for 30 years, including a blacksmith’s shop, general store and canal museum, using existing buildings from the canal village of Andover Forge. Located on the Musconetcong River and Morris Canal it is the site of a monument to the Irish immigrant workers who dug the canal in the 1820s, dedicated in the 1970s by Princess Grace of Monaco and then-NJ Governor Brendan Byrne, both descendents of 19th Century Irish immigrants. A replica of a Lenni Lenape Indian outpost is on an island in the Musconetcong, a frequent destination for class trips, as is the village itself. Waterloo is also site of the Waterloo Jazz Festival and Folk Festival, featuring musicians such as Dave Brubeck; Peter, Paul and Mary; Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger and John Sebastian. Concerts under a tent have featured Joan Baez, Dan Fogelberg and many other artists and for many years, rock concerts were held on the concert field just south of the village proper. An antique fair, craft fair and beer festival are among the annual event. The Geraldine R. Dodge poetry festival moved to Waterloo when the state took over the Doris Duke Estate as a public botanical garden, and Alan Ginsberg presented his last public reading there. Many weddings are held at the village from April through November. The Waterloo United Methodist Church, unaffiliated with the village, remains open. Receptions are held at the Meeting House. Makatura said those who have booked wedding receptions in 2007 were told they could apply to the DEP’s Division of Parks and Forestry for a special use permit allowing them to use the Meeting House. However, Denise Holowach, whose daughter, Deborah was married at the village earlier this month, said she was told by staff all weddings booked in advance have been cancelled and deposits have been returned. She said staff at the Meeting House told her they were being layed off. It was operated for many years by Percival Leach and Louis Guilandi who did the restorations work. It became part of the state park some years after it’s initial opening.