InfoAge Volunteers Salvage Parts of New Brunswick Marconi Station to Restore its  Sister Station in Wall

Two of Three New Brunswick Marconi Wireless Transmission Station
Buildings Fall to Progress.  InfoAge Volunteers Save 15 Tons of Roof
Tiles, Woodwork, Doors and Windows to Restore the Former Belmar
Marconi Station in Wall Township.

Once the most powerful transmission station in the world - In front of the cottage (left) is James Stigliano and Karin Carl of Wall with two pickup truck loads of roof tiles to transport to Camp Evans.   The building on the right is the New Brunswick Hotel built in 1913 for the American Marconi Company by J. G. White Engineering Company of NY.   The Hotel housed Marconi staff, Navy personnel during WW1, RCA staff until 1952.  The 14 room hotel would serve as a single room rental house until June of 2000.

To support the weight of the clay tiles steel trusses (attic photo on right) were made by the Lackawanna Steel Company.  The tile were nailed to one and a half inch thick tongue and groove pine coated with creosote.  The photo on the left shows the 87 years of dust under the tiles that the wind would blow into out faces.

At first Franklin Township Boy Scouts, Members of the New Jersey Antique Radio Club and other volunteers carried the tiles down the stairs and stacked them on the front porch (left).  Dan Lieb and the NJ Historical Divers Association saved time by tossing the tiles off the roof onto mattresses.  Chris Wishbow, a founding member of InfoAge, improved on the method by building a shoot.  That is Chris on the roof.

The hotel roof was nearly three stories high (right).  As this was too dangerous for volunteers, Adam Alb of AA Roofing removed the tiles, while fighting off wasps, and tossed the tile onto mattresses.  In the left photo note the mattresss and the cottage roof in the distance.

Thousands of tiles were lined up along the back retaining wall.  These were transported to Wall.

 On the left is remains of the cottage and on the right the remains of the hotel.  Note the steel from the attic and the surviving cottage in the background.  The cottage will become the office for Somerset Self Storage at Marconi Plaza with a room put aside for a history display by the Marconi Foundation.

The transmission site where Marconi started the business of global commercial wireless communication across the Atlantic has lost its battle with progress. The Marconi reception station in Wall is nearly completely intact and all materials salvaged will be used to help restore the Marconi buildings that formed the heart of Camp Evans.

Page updated January 3, 2004   page created August 31, 2000