Joe Malinconico

Paterson Press

PATERSON — Preliminary depictions of the proposed $25 million Great Falls national park visitor center seem too modern to fit in with the old, brick industrial buildings in the surrounding area, according to members of Paterson’s Historic Preservation Commission.

“It has too much of a modern take to it,” said the commission’s chairman, Mohammed Ahmed.

The historic commission discussed the proposed visitor center during its monthly meeting on Monday night.

The commission’s vice chairwoman, Kelly Ruffel, said the center should feature less glass and more bricks. “It’s a work in progress, but they have a long way to go before it’s compatible with the rest of the Great Falls historic district,” Ruffel said.

The national park’s superintendent, Darren Boch, said plans for the “exterior look” of the building are far from finalized, adding that there’s “an opportunity to make revisions.”

Boch described the “tricky” balancing act of building something new within a historic district. He cited federal standards that say, "New construction should be compatible with massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property’s environment."

Boch said: “We don't want to construct something that looks like it's historic, like it was built during the same period of surrounding buildings, and yet at the same time it must be compatible with its surrounding context. As you can imagine, that's a hard sweet spot to find. But we have enough experts to help us find it.”

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Mayor Andre Sayegh is asking the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to allocate to the visitor center $17 million from the city’s pot of $130 million worth of redevelopment tax credits. The project is being done jointly by the National Park Service, the Paterson-based Hamilton Partnership nonprofit group and the New Brunswick-based Devco development group, officials said.

Besides the funding from the state tax credits, the rest of the money for the project would come from private contributions raised by the Hamilton Partnership, organizers said.

At present, there’s a small “welcome center” at the national park on McBride Avenue, a facility that primarily serves as a gift shop and provides restrooms for visitors.

The proposed new, 10,000-square-foot center would be in the park’s Overlook area within the existing footprint of a steam-generating plant built in 1915, officials said. It would include open exhibit space, a visitor orientation area, a multipurpose room and space that would be used for workshops, on-site school programs and social events, officials said.

Sayegh repeatedly has touted the visitor center as being a pivotal piece in his plans to make the Great Falls a vibrant tourist destination.

Nakima Redmon, another member of the city historic commission, said other new buildings in the Great Falls historic district have been required to adapt their designs to the surrounding landscape. For example, the Burger King on nearby Spruce Street has a red brick façade.

“It’s a great start,” Redmon said of the preliminary design, "but I just want to see it fit in better with the historic fabric of the area.”

From now through Oct. 17, federal park officials are taking public comment about the preliminary plans, which may be submitted online at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectId=70141.

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