VINELAND -- The wonderfully weird Vineland tourist attraction known as the Palace of Depression brought Kevin Kirchner and Jeffrey Tirante together about 15 years ago. Since 2000, the two have been trying to rebuild the fascinating castle made of garbage located on South Mill Road.

The two men belong to different backgrounds. Before retiring, Kirchner was the head construction official and director of licenses and inspections for the city of Vineland and Tirante was a full-time artist.

One thing the two men share are fond memories of the landmark from their childhoods and the desire to help future generations create similar memories.

The sprawling house made of junk and scraps is a masterful blend between engineering marvel and artistic creativity, almost a metaphor for the pairing of the two men attempting to rebuild it.

History of the Palace

The story of the Palace is one of perseverance, self-reliance and courage. The fully-functional house built out of junk was opened in 1932 by an eccentric Alaskan gold miner named George Daynor.

After finding gold, Daynor invested in the stock market and subsequently moved to San Francisco only to lose all his physical possessions in a massive earthquake. With only his money from the stock market remaining, Daynor moved to New York and again lived very comfortably until the stock market crashed in 1929.

A broke and desperate Daynor found a newspaper advertisement about a small town in South Jersey selling land for a dollar an acre. Daynor set out on foot for a journey from New York to Vineland and after about 10-12 days, Daynor arrived, only to be informed that the ad was over three months old and not much land was left. Daynor was offered a remaining piece of land, which he desperately bought without looking at first. The piece of land cost Daynor his last seven dollars and was a less than ideal location.

"It was a junkyard in the middle of a swamp... Anyone else would've just thrown their arms up and said 'I got a piece of crap,' but he was tired and he didn't sleep well, so he crawled into the back of an old truck and had a dream," said Kirchner.

In the dream, angels appeared to Daynor and told him had everything he needed to build a "fantastic castle." So, he got up the next morning and started building it. It is unknown what Daynor did for a living before moving to Alaska, but given how intricate and sheerly creative the building was, it's very likely he had quite the artistic eye and/or a background in engineering.

On Christmas Day, 1932, the house composed of trash, junk and scraps was completed. Daynor lived in the Palace with his wife until he died in 1964, reportedly at the age of 104. He charged 10 cents per person to come in and take a tour, and eventually 25 cents. The Palace attracted enough people for Daynor to support himself and his wife in the house for over 30 years.

Kirchner and Tirante Meet

Kirchner, 65, of Vineland and Tirante, 56, of Denville, NJ met after Kirchner officially declared to rebuild the Palace while still at his job as the construction official and director of licenses and inspections. The project started to gain attention from media outlets, as the Daily Journal (then the Vineland Times Journal), the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer all reported on it.

Tirante, who was working as an artist in Philadelphia at the time and also had very fond memories of the Palace, picked up the article in the Inquirer and decided to come to Vineland to help Kirchner.

Memories of the Palace

Both Kirchner and Tirante have abundant memories about the Palace, dating back to their childhood.

"One weekend, one of [my uncles] came over and we brought him over here. That was the start of all the other brothers wanting to come see the place every week," said Kirchner.

"So, that summer I was probably here six or seven times and was scared to death of the place. It never left my head. I had nightmares about it and nightmares about [Daynor]."

The nightmares didn't diminish Kirchner's interest in the Palace, for he spent many nights during his college years hanging out with friends at the Palace's ruins and ticket booth, which was the only remaining structure at the time.

As for Tirante's relationship with the Palace, he loved it so much he decided to make that same ticket booth his wedding chapel.

"As a child, I used to come out here all the time and play through the ruins of the place. We'd come out, we'd spend the night out at the ticket booth like Kevin was saying before I got married," said Tirante.

"And that was the chapel for my wedding. There was no other place that meant this much to me at all, with all the traveling I had done. I always like to come back to this spot."

Ups and Downs of Rebuilding

When a project to put a housing development on the property came by Kirchner's desk while he was still at his job, he just couldn't sign off on it.

"I just put it aside and on a whim, I decided I wanted to rebuild this. So, I did a presentation to the Mayor and Council... I asked them if I can raise the money and build it and here I am, I'm building it. They agreed to it," said Kirchner.

The road to rebuilding the Palace has been extremely rocky for Kirchner and Tirante, as the project is going on about 15 years now. Three and a half of those years were spent getting permits, which were required due to the location being near wetlands. The area around the Palace was also wildly overgrown and needed to be cleared out, which took a long time for only two men to do.

Then, a change of administration in the mayor's office put the project in jeopardy. Kirchner needed to get a sign-off to be able to continue work, which took another year before. The mayor, who Kirchner failed to identify, was "very dominant and wanted to control everything."

"I was the head building inspector. I have a code you have to follow. I don't go out and seek vendettas on people that didn't vote for him, and that's what he basically wanted me to do and I wouldn't do it. So, he wouldn't sign off on it," said Kirchner.

It was nearly six years before Kirchner and Tirante could even put a shovel in the ground. Even once they could, various incidents of vandalism, two knee replacements for Kirchner, and a bout with shingles for Tirante resulted in several years' worth of lost work.

However, the two persevered much like Daynor did, and in the past two years, they built more than they did in the first 10. Kirchner and Tirante continue to make great strides in the restoration of the Palace of Depression and at this point, they are projecting to finish the Palace by the summer of 2017.

Why Rebuild It?

The Palace of Depression symbolic attraction that represents the willpower against economic depression. It poignantly tells George Daynor's fascinating story and allows people to take a look back to a non-materialistic time where people had to make the most of what they had.

Tirante even believes the Palace has legitimate educational value in the art world, for it was a large source of inspiration to him during his art career.

"Getting to see it before it was completely torn down as a kid helped me appreciate [art] and go up to Philadelphia. But mostly, what I want is to bring back everything that I learned up in Philly because of being inspired by this place," said Tirante.

"[I want to bring it back] and hopefully inspire kids and people to want to leave their back yards and look at [not] just this, but other roadside attractions... Mostly for me, it's to show kids that once upon a time, there was such a thing as 'once upon a time.' It's all about how far you can go with what you want to do with something that inspires you."

For information regarding the restoration of the Palace of Depression, visit www.ourhero.biz or contact Kevin Kirchner at (856)-692-7219 (Home) or (856)-305-8561 (Cell)

--

Stephen Pistone may be reached at spistone@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Steve_Pistone. Find NJ.com on Facebook.