Historic Allaire In Wall Awarded $500,000 In Federal Pandemic Funds

WALL, NJ — The Historic Village at Allaire, a living history museum, has been awarded $500,000 through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) COVID-19 Community Recovery Grant Program, administered by Monmouth County.

The Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners has announced that 93 nonprofit organizations, located in the county, are being awarded grants in the total amount of $24,285,519.49 through the program. A resolution listing all the recipients of the funds can be found here.

And for Hance M. Sitkus, CPA, the executive director of Allaire Village and himself an accountant, the timing of the grant couldn't be better.

The village is celebrating 200 years since its founding by James P. Allaire who bought the property, now called the "Historic Village at Allaire," in 1822.

Allaire created the largest iron-producing site in New Jersey during the 1830s. The manufacturing of iron thrived largely due to the self-sufficient industrial community that Allaire planned out, the Historic Village website says.

"We are so thankful for the grant," Sitkus said in an interview Thursday.

Sitkus, whose family has been in the Allenwood area of what is now Wall since the 1600s and worked for the Allaire family, says he has been involved with the historic village since childhood. He was on the board of trustees and he accepted the executive director's position to help it cope with the financial challenges of historic preservation.

The pandemic basically closed down the village and its source of revenue, he said.

But the village has reopened and is holding many events, including this weekend's celebration of James Allaire's 237th birthday on Saturday. Sitkus will be on hand for a book-signing Saturday of his book, "Allaire" now in its 12th printing. It is also available at Barnes & Noble.

The funds are much needed, Sitkus said, for the repair and improvements of aging buildings and the preservation of a more than 20,000-piece collection of historic artifacts.

The $500,000 won't solve all problems. Sitkus estimated that $20 million is actually needed for capital projects and collections work.

But while the buildings meet all safety standards, the money will go a long way to making more immediate improvements to such buildings as the general store, the mansion and the blacksmith shop, he said.

At Allaire Village, there are volunteers, interns and modestly paid experts who have a passion for history who have enabled the site to continue for 65 years.

"'Passion' is the word," Sitkus said, a passion he himself has for history. The village has hired a museum collections coordinator and it hopes to reopen the library that has been closed since 1985, he said.

He said he expects about 75 percent of the federal grant to go toward capital projects; the rest will go toward the maintenance of the collection of artifacts.

The state of New Jersey operates the 3,500-acre Allaire State Park and also maintains the grounds of the 40-acre Historic Village at Allaire within the park. But that is where state funding ends, Sitkus said.

He said he is concentrating on obtaining grants from the state, such as the New Jersey Historic Trust, and other sources to improve the historic site's bottom line. And the village does have periodic small-scale fundraising events connected to programming there.

The Monmouth County Board of Commissioners approved the grants at its regular meeting held on July 7.

“We are thrilled to be able to support our nonprofit organizations that are true community partners and help make Monmouth County an incredible place to live, work and raise a family,” said Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone.

“These nonprofits serve our veterans, combat food insecurity, provide animal welfare services, offer mental health services, support the special needs community and help promote and preserve art, historical and cultural resources.”

Each nonprofit organization was eligible to receive up to $500,000 in funding for expenses and/or lost revenue during the pandemic. Nonprofits could also apply for funding for enhanced programs and services related to pandemic recovery.

“To date, the county has utilized almost $150 million in federal funding to assist our residents including small businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, renters, and landlords,” said Arnone.
Earlier this year Arnone outlined how the county was working with the federal relief programs.

“With the American Rescue Plan money, we wanted to make sure we took our time and prioritized certain types of organizations that may not have received federal funding under our previous grant programs," Arnone said in March.

“We helped our municipalities with the first round of CARES Act funding, we helped our businesses twice with two different grant programs and today (March 28) we are proud to announce our Monmouth County Community Recovery Grant Program funding for particular types of nonprofits that may still need financial assistance due to the pandemic.”