March 5th, 2006
| Preserving history, piece by piece |
| Entrepreneur covets artifacts to be reused in future projects |
By Christina Segalini
One could say Adam Wengryn is a historian in his own right. The owner of Restoration Technologies of Ringoes, a company that specializes in the
study, documentation and preservation of historic buildings and materials, Wengryn has kept a watchful eye on the history of Hunterdon County
during the past eight years, searching for buildings and artifacts under threat of demolition in the hopes of salvaging them for use in future
construction projects. "There are people out there that want things built for them that have a certain historical significance or old feel to them, like
barns, houses, out door buildings by their pools," Wengryn said. "The thing is, there's more buildings that are coming down than being preserved.
I'm always driving by things thinking, ' what happened to that building that was there?' It's just so unbelievable how fast these things are taken down."
The business of preserving buildings and artifacts is not easy. Wengryn said that when he sees a building that looks to be under threat of
demolition, he must get in touch with the property's owners to get permission to dismantle the structure and salvage the materials. Often, Wengryn
said, people are confused or even resistant to his requests. "You get people saying, what do you want to do that for?' Wengryn said. "But you'd be
surprised how much of the material we take down are salvageable and in really good condition and completely usable for construction." Wengryn
and his team are now working on a number of high-profile projects in the county, including the historically sensitive demolition of a dairy barn on the
site of Clinton Township's new middle school and a circa-1870's building on the site of the former Flemington Fairgrounds, which was once used for
office space and a ticket booth during fairs and car races. "In a way, we're sort of a green company because there's a major recycling aspect to what
we do," Wengryn said. Danco General Contracting Inc. of Matawan is currently clearing the Flemington Fairgrounds property to make way for the
447,000-square-foot Raritan Center, which will house a Lowe's home improvement store and a Wal-Mart, among other stores, and office and civic
spaces. Danny Materese, owner of Danco General Contracting, said a number of residents have contacted his company to inquire about what is
being done with the historical buildings and artifacts on the site. Materese said some people have even visited the property, located on Route 31, to
take home pieces of the asphalt race track as memorabilia. "People who used to race on the track have come by, sometimes crying, to take pieces
of the track home with them," Materese said. "There's a lot of people with attachment to that property. It's pretty amazing." While most of the
property's structures have been razed to make room for Raritan Center, Wengryn said materials from the barn he and his workers took down on the
site will be stored and recycled for possible use in a future construction project. "There are original materials," Wengryn said. "It's the stuff you can't
find at a Home Depot."
study, documentation and preservation of historic buildings and materials, Wengryn has kept a watchful eye on the history of Hunterdon County
during the past eight years, searching for buildings and artifacts under threat of demolition in the hopes of salvaging them for use in future
construction projects. "There are people out there that want things built for them that have a certain historical significance or old feel to them, like
barns, houses, out door buildings by their pools," Wengryn said. "The thing is, there's more buildings that are coming down than being preserved.
I'm always driving by things thinking, ' what happened to that building that was there?' It's just so unbelievable how fast these things are taken down."
The business of preserving buildings and artifacts is not easy. Wengryn said that when he sees a building that looks to be under threat of
demolition, he must get in touch with the property's owners to get permission to dismantle the structure and salvage the materials. Often, Wengryn
said, people are confused or even resistant to his requests. "You get people saying, what do you want to do that for?' Wengryn said. "But you'd be
surprised how much of the material we take down are salvageable and in really good condition and completely usable for construction." Wengryn
and his team are now working on a number of high-profile projects in the county, including the historically sensitive demolition of a dairy barn on the
site of Clinton Township's new middle school and a circa-1870's building on the site of the former Flemington Fairgrounds, which was once used for
office space and a ticket booth during fairs and car races. "In a way, we're sort of a green company because there's a major recycling aspect to what
we do," Wengryn said. Danco General Contracting Inc. of Matawan is currently clearing the Flemington Fairgrounds property to make way for the
447,000-square-foot Raritan Center, which will house a Lowe's home improvement store and a Wal-Mart, among other stores, and office and civic
spaces. Danny Materese, owner of Danco General Contracting, said a number of residents have contacted his company to inquire about what is
being done with the historical buildings and artifacts on the site. Materese said some people have even visited the property, located on Route 31, to
take home pieces of the asphalt race track as memorabilia. "People who used to race on the track have come by, sometimes crying, to take pieces
of the track home with them," Materese said. "There's a lot of people with attachment to that property. It's pretty amazing." While most of the
property's structures have been razed to make room for Raritan Center, Wengryn said materials from the barn he and his workers took down on the
site will be stored and recycled for possible use in a future construction project. "There are original materials," Wengryn said. "It's the stuff you can't
find at a Home Depot."
LEFT - George Wengryn Jr, right, and his father George
Wengryn Sr., work on deconstructing a dairy barn on Gray
Rock Road in Clinton Township on Friday. The barn is being
torn down to make way for a new middle school.
Wengryn Sr., work on deconstructing a dairy barn on Gray
Rock Road in Clinton Township on Friday. The barn is being
torn down to make way for a new middle school.
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