'We Could Move It': Effort Being Made To Save Englewood Historic House
Englewood, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - A piec of history in Englewood is in danger of facing a wrecking ball.
The Taylor Bliss House is nearly 150 years old.
Now members of a synagogue, the historical society and the mayor are trying to save it.
A piece of Englewood's history is nestled at the corner of Engle Street and East Hudson Avenue.
The Community Synagogue of Tenafly and Englewood bought the Taylor Bliss House in 2003 and converted it from an office space to use for prayers.
"Over the years, we've spent about a half million dollars in renovations on the house in order to be able to use it," said Hillel Parness of the Community Synagogue of Tenafly and Englewood.
Built in the late 1800s, the second empire Victorian house has three stories and a standout fourth floor tower.
The home sat vacant for years before being repurposed.
"Going upstairs was absolutely wonderful. There are two flights then there's a tower and you can just imagine living there and being in the past as a young person," said Imari Nacht of the Englewood Historical Society.
The synagogue built a new house of worship to accommodate its growing congregation.
The chipped siding is only a fraction of the overall deteriorating condition of the house that now poses safety concerns. Members of the synagogue considered demolishing it.
"At this point now we need the space. We have no practical use for the house," Parness said.
"In the middle of the night it came to me. I said 'Wait, we could move it to Eleanor's property," Nacht said.
The synagogue is willing to give Englewood's historical society the house for free. The organization wants to move the house in pieces about two miles away to 500 Liberty Road. It's along a historic route and is the property of the historical society's founder Eleanor Harvey, who left the land to the city in her will.
"The historical society is hoping to use it for its archives. We have a lot of historical archives that are not being shown now because they're in a basement somewhere," Nacht said.
Moving this house is estimated to cost $130,000 dollars. Even more money is needed for renovations. The synagogue has pledged $80,000, and the historical society has to come up with the rest, reported CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas.
"You have a lot of moving parts here. You have utilities, wires, trees, all sorts of challenging logistical concerns," said Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes.
Wildes is trying to manage the synagogue's needs with the desire to preserve a one-of-a-kind home in the community.
"But you're still looking at a million dollars to build it up from scratch as a museum or other use," Wildes said.
But to the historical society, the Taylor Bliss House is priceless.
Time is running out to save it.
The synagogue says it will give the historical society a few more months to come up with funding. If you're interested in helping, send an email to irmariac@yahoo.com with your contact information.
