A new property management agreement will soon turn the site of the long-gone Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital into a park for passive enjoyment, according to Monmouth County officials.
County officials will now oversee the 411 acres as part of the arrangement with the state, with the goal of protecting the historic property. When the state completes repaying a series of obligations that the Marlboro property became bound by following its acquisition by the state in 2013, the county will have the opportunity to buy the site.
The director of the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners, Thomas Arnone, told NJ Advance Media, “We are fairly certain that it will be a very favorable transfer in 2033, but in the meantime, our residents are going to be able to utilize a very viable, beautiful piece of property.”
Walking and wildlife observation are among the uses for the site, which will be incorporated into the Monmouth County Parks System, according to Arnone. By the end of the year, officials hope to have trails open to the public.
According to officials, the county will only be responsible for the property’s upkeep for the following eight years under the terms of the land management agreement. For just $1 in 2033, the state could be able to give the county ownership of the land. Arnone stated, “That would be my ultimate goal there.”
The state shuttered the mental health facility in 1998, although it had been open since 1931.According to Arnone, the facility’s facilities, which formerly accommodated 500–800 patients at a time, started to be demolished in 2014.
The official land transfer agreement was revealed on Aug. 8, despite the fact that county and township authorities had been collaborating with the state to maintain the property as open space for more than ten years.
In a news conference, county commissioner Ross Licitra stated that this has been progressing gradually, sometimes excruciatingly slowly.
Jonathan Hornik said that as soon as he was elected mayor of Marlboro in 2008, he had the land rezoned to prohibit development, bringing its value down from $40 million to roughly $1 million.
In a news release, Hornik stated, “As a lifelong resident, I have always understood how important preserving these 411 acres was to our community.”
Hornik made a jest during the press conference that the county will capitalize on the property’s eerie reputation.
“There are ghosts here,” Hornik remarked. I am aware of this as, in my capacity as mayor, I receive notifications each year asking if qualified ghostbusters are welcome to conduct events. It’s something we should definitely do here around Halloween, by the way.
Across the street, Big Brook Park was created after the county purchased roughly 400 acres of hospital-owned land in 1997.
According to Arnone, he expects county residents’ taxes to benefit from the hospital’s grounds being preserved as open space.
During the press conference, Arnone stated that people believe that development has a good impact on towns’ tax revenue. However, that isn’t always true.
“We are extremely proud of our acquisitions and open space,” he told NJ Advance Media. We’re really proud of it, and we believe that this will be more advantageous in the long term. The people of Monmouth County appear to think highly of it.
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