Cash to fix canal arch collapsing
Department of Transportation looks for money that’s not being put to use

Monday, August 01, 2005

By LINDA LISANTI

The Express-Times

PHILLIPSBURG -- A $300,000 grant to restore the historic Morris Canal Arch, money which has been languishing in the town's coffers for more than a decade, is in jeopardy of being lost.

Mayor Harry Wyant said last week he believes the New Jersey Department of Transportation is trying to recoup inactive funds and this grant may be on its radar.

"There's little activity and there hasn't been for quite some time," Wyant said.

The grant was originally awarded in January 1994 to the Phillipsburg Riverview Organization, but was transferred to the town a few years ago when the DOT threatened to take it, PRO President Mike King said.

It was thought the town was in a better position than the organization to get things moving, King said.

But that has not been the case.

Wyant said the dilemma continues to be that the Morris Canal Arch sits on a Norfolk-Southern Railroad right of way and the town has been unable to acquire an easement.

The mayor said he has sent letters to the railroad and has received no response.

"I get absolutely zero in return," Wyant said. "They don't even want to talk to us."

Norfolk-Southern spokesman Rob Chapman said the railroad's Philadelphia real estate office, which would handle such an issue, has not been contacted by Phillipsburg.

"We would be glad to work with them, but our office has not heard from them," he said.

Meanwhile, the historic arch is deteriorating.

In its heyday, the arch served as a gateway to the Morris Canal, a 102-mile network of lifts and manmade waterways that eased the transportation of goods between Phillipsburg and Jersey City before railroads.

Historians have said the arch was built to prevent the Delaware River from flooding the canal and to prevent river silt and debris from obstructing the nearby inclined plane.

When the river was high, canal operators would drop wooden boards through a slot built into the arch's center to act as filters.

Now, officials say this transportation artifact is a safety hazard that needs to be restored.

Bill McKelvey, director of the Canal Society of New Jersey, said recent floods have started to undermine the arch's foundations.

"If nothing is done, it will continue to deteriorate and at some point in the future, it will probably collapse," McKelvey said.

Unfortunately, Wyant said he doesn't foresee progress being made with the railroad.

"If you can't get them to communicate with you, I don't know where to go next," he said.

He said it's a shame because the arch -- once restored and stabilized -- would be an asset.

"It's a great historic site," he said.

Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at llisanti@express-times.com
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