RED BANK, NJ- The unanimous decision reached on July 21, 2016, by the seven-member Red Bank Zoning Board to approve the proposed restoration and renovation of the T. Thomas Fortune House, was met with cheerful fanfare.
Historic T. Thomas Fortune House
The T. Thomas Fortune House will now become the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center. Accompanied by experts in the fields of engineering, planning and development, homebuilder and developer, Roger Mumford of Roger Mumford Homes LLC, crossed a major hurdle in redeveloping the T. Thomas Fortune House, a National Historic Landmark. The stately 1870’s Second Empire style home, where the activist newspaper editor and crusader for social justice, T. Thomas Fortune once lived, from 1901-1910, had fallen to total disrepair, vandalism and was a community eyesore. As part of the Fortune project, an apartment building to be known as Fortune Square was approved as a necessary component needed in order for Mumford to underwrite the $2.5 million cost of the Fortune House project. Fortune Square, the proposed 31-unit luxury apartment building, will incorporate the same architectural style and detail as the Fortune Home on the same site at 94 Drs. James Parker Blvd. The predominately one bedroom apartments, with an on-site gym, will be built in the rear of the Fortune House, and will mimic the historic charm and architectural style of the home’s true French Mansard Roof and dormers. The T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center’s purpose will be steeped in America’s quest for civil rights, which echoes the legacy of T. Thomas Fortune, who as editor of the New York Age newspaper, used it as a platform to speak out against the social injustices waged against African Americans.
The Center’s mission statement reads: Progress is the by-product of truth and reconciliation and this is the business of the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center. The Center will advocate for social justice in all matters that advance history, while underscoring the principle truth of this great nation to respect all humanity.
“I’m elated with the outcome of this hearing,” said Rogers, who as co-chair of the T. Thomas Fortune Project Committee, testified before the zoning board, schooling the members on T. Thomas Fortune’s prominence as a change-agent in the nation. “We never gave up. That was never an option.
Fortune’s home is a National Historic Landmark that represents social progress made in this country, and now as a cultural center it will continue the work that still needs to be done,” said Rogers. The group came together in 2013 with a deliberate agenda to save the home. “We remained steadfast in raising awareness of the importance of Fortune and his pioneering contribution to civil rights,” said Mark Fitzsimmons, a Red Bank architect and co-chair of the committee, who also testified before
the zoning board. While hosting community fundraisers in an effort to save the home, the committee faced many challenges, from staving off a demolition application presented to the borough by the owners, to them rejecting the state’s offer to purchase the property through its “Green Acres” program.
“Roger Mumford is a God-send,” said Rogers, after having exhausted a myriad of funding sources, the committee had no approvals in sight and was at wits end. “I received an email one day from Roger requesting to meet with me about the Fortune House.” It was in this initial meeting that Mumford said, “I may have a solution to your problem.” Mumford, who Rogers explained was enthused by the significance of the home had already sketched out the initial plans for the project. This project serves as a model example of the public and private sectors coming together for the benefit of the community and beyond. “This will not be your typical static museum,” said Fitzsimmons.
“It will be an active environment that addresses the social struggles we face today, with supporting exhibits.”
Mumford expressed that he will deed the renovated property to the non-profit T. Thomas Fortune Foundation, which will manage the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center. The T. Thomas Fortune Project Committee will host the 4th Annual T. Thomas Fortune Birthday Celebration Luncheon on October 2, 2016, at the beautiful Oyster Point Hotel, on the Navesink in Red Bank. For more information, visit www.thomasfortunehouse.weebly.com
