A big boost is coming for a historic yet dilapidated village in North Jersey.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced Tuesday that it had received a $3 million grant to restore three buildings at Waterloo Village in Stanhope -- a state historic site and part of Kittatinny Valley State Park. The money was awarded by the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives Program.

Waterloo preserves an important chapter in New Jersey’s history by taking visitors back in time, to the heyday of the Morris Canal: a 107-mile-long waterway that from 1829 to 1924 connected two industrial canals in Pennsylvania to New York Harbor. It was a crucial tool for moving coal into the New York City area, and served as a backbone for commerce in the region.

"For those reasons and others, it is important that we preserve these connections to our history so future generations will understand and appreciate the many vital roles New Jersey had in the growth of our nation,” said NJDEP Commissioner Catherine McCabe.

The new $3 million grant is supplemented by a $615,000 grant that the NJDEP was awarded for restoration work at the Sussex County site in 2017.

“With both of these grants we look forward to restoring the property and these three buildings to their heyday, so the public may continue to enjoy them,” said Olivia Glenn, the director of the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.

The new announcement is the latest piece of restoration work at Waterloo Village, which was shutdown from 2006 to 2010 after the state severed ties with a nonprofit group that had operated the historic site for 30 years.

The village’s Tenant House is a glimpse into the living conditions for working class people who had lived in Waterloo. Work on the Tenant House will include restoration of the building’s exterior, as well as the lower and middle floors, according to the state. The top floor will be renovated and stabilized.

The Seymour Smith House was home for some members of the Smith family, the overseers of the bustling village. According to the state, certain architectural features on the building’s exterior will be renovated at the house. Room restorations on the first and second floors also are planned.

The Waterloo Hotel and Tavern offered shelter and comfort to travelers passing though the village, and was a home for the hotel keeper and his family. The state’s restoration plans for the hotel will focus on the first floor and hallway, and some rooms on the second floor.

Waterloo Village is visited by an average of 300 students per day during the peak seasons of spring and fall, according to the state, with more than 13,000 students and other people visiting the property annually. The NJDEP has already spent more than $2 million on restoration work at Waterloo Village since 2007.

The three buildings are not currently open to the public; the state said that impact to visitors will be minimal.

The new grant is encouraging for the future of Waterloo Village, according to Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. But Tittel warned that the situation shows that there just isn’t enough money dedicated to state parks.

“This is one of the gems of New Jersey that we need to take care of and preserve for future generations, and we may not have the resources to do it,” Tittel said of Waterloo Village.

Historic sites and public lands across New Jersey are chronically strapped for resources when it comes to restoration projects. More than $223 million is needed to deal with long-deferred maintenance projects at national park units across the Garden State.

New Jersey’s state parks need at least $250 million in emergency repairs, according to the state’s capital improvement plan.

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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