(MANSFIELD TWP., October 25, 2007) – Warren County residents got a sneak peak at one of the area’s oldest government facilities that will soon be the newest office space for county purposes.

The Board of Chosen Freeholders unveiled the reconstructed Warren County Home and the Caretaker’s House for about 100 people attending the public open house.

The two buildings, located on the campus of the county-run nursing home Warren Haven, were part of the county Poor Farm that opened in 1830, just five years after Warren County was established.

Noting the work nearing completion is the first in a series of building projects dealing with crucial space needs, Freeholder Director Everett A. Chamberlain said the reconstruction is “a real tribute to the County of Warren.”

The county Health Department will move into the Warren County Home from its leased offices in Washington Township and Phillipsburg, saving $150,000 a year in rent. Moreover, the work is being done without raising taxes or incurring debt, Chamberlain said, adding that Warren County is delivering services “in a very economical and efficient way.”

Attendees toured the Warren County Home from top to bottom, viewing features including the hewn beams – joined with wooden pegs – in the attic, the thick stone walls that previously were hidden beneath stucco, and the porch “gingerbread” trim that is being recreated as the reconstruction takes the building exterior back to its 19th Century appearance. The Warren County Home building includes 9,837 square feet of usable space on four levels, while the Caretaker’s House has approximately 1,520 square feet of usable space.

Both buildings had been vacant and deteriorating for years before the current Freeholder Board, working with their Projects Committee that includes community volunteers and county officials, began to pursue the $3 million restoration. While the exteriors of the buildings will retain an historic appearance, the interiors are being completely upgraded. The Warren County Home building includes an elevator to make all the offices accessible to the public.

“We now have this building back to life, in the most efficient and economical way possible,” Freeholder Richard D. Gardner remarked. Freeholder John DiMaio, noting the historic nature of the buildings, said, “to have been on the brink of maybe losing these buildings, if we didn’t do anything, would have been sad.”

According to Gardner, the Warren County Home is the second building to be commissioned by the earliest county freeholders, after the Courthouse in Belvidere.

“They would be honored knowing we’re taking care of what they built,” Gardner noted.

“These are irreplaceable structures,” Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow concurred. “These are assets to be treasured.” Karrow, who attended the open house, noted that not only are the buildings historic, they also are bought and paid for, and it is economical to re-use them.

Warren is, Karrow said, “a county that gets it.”

In addition to Warren County Home and the Caretaker’s House, the county is refurbishing the former Warden’s House behind the Courthouse in Belvidere, where a unit of the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office will be relocating to free up Courthouse space that will become a new courtroom. The county also is working on plans for a new building at its White Township campus to house a County Library headquarters, the Human Services Department, the Election Board, and the Public Health Nursing Agency.

The freeholders credited the Projects Committee for its work, recognizing Chairman Joseph Houston and members Ralph Coppersmith, James Durborow, David Hicks, Terrance D. Lee, Richard Moore, Laurel Napolitani and Jane Primerano.

Raymond E. O’Brien of Blairstown is the project architect, while Alex Lazorisak of Oxford is the architect’s construction representative and the contractor is A.B. Designs of Summit, NJ.