Holmdel Township Files Lawsuit Over Horn Antenna Ownership

By Sunayana Prabhu

HOLMDEL – Township officials, buoyed by the support of residents and concerned groups, have filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court over ownership of the Horn Antenna.

Efforts to preserve the legendary antenna – used to confirm the Big Bank theory of the universe's expansion – have been growing for months as owners of the property on which the Horn sits filed a request for development with the township.

The township filed the suit against the property owners to determine who actually owns the Horn Antenna.

Even after months of negotiations with the owners of the property, the township committee is "still faced with an unknown," said Mayor DJ Lucarelli at the township committee meeting, April 11, where he announced the lawsuit against the owners of the Crawford Hill site.

"The township is not in a position to negotiate the future of Crawford Hill if it does not know who actually owns the Horn Antenna," Lucarelli said. "For these reasons, the township authorized this litigation," to determine its rights with respect to the national historic landmark, located on 43 acres at 791 Holmdel Road.

According to the lawsuit, the township alleges that the three entities with potential rights to the Horn Antenna property – South Plainfield-based Crawford Hill Holding, LLC., current property owner; Nokia of America Corporation, the former property owner, which has contractually retained certain rights to the Horn Antenna; and Burke Contracting, LLC based in Ocean, which entered a contract-purchase agreement with Crawford Hill – have not been forthcoming with certain information requested by the township.

The township is seeking judicial determinations on two specific issues. First, it wants to know who owns the Horn Antenna and second, whether or not the township can exercise its powers of eminent domain to secure the preservation of the Horn Antenna property.

Lucarelli said he remains "steadfast" in his "commitment to use every possible legal avenue to protect Holmdel's legacy."

According to the litigation papers, in 2022 the township "engaged in corresponding negotiations" with Crawford Hill Holding and Burke after receiving their request to designate the property as an area in need of redevelopment, as per the Local Redevelopment Housing Law.

In response, the township committee authorized the Holmdel Planning Board to undertake a redevelopment study in November 2022 to determine if the property can be redeveloped based on "non-condemnation purposes." This was changed in March to "condemnation purposes" to authorize eminent domain rights of the township over the property.

Township attorney Michael Collins said filing the litigation was the "most prudent step" to rule out uncertainties shrouding the antenna since owners and contract purchasers have indicated that Nokia may have a contractual right to "relocate" the Horn Antenna off-site.

Public Comments

Residents of Holmdel and those in the scientific community have not been quiet on the matter.

In a particularly inspiring plea to save the Horn Antenna at its current location, Sarbmeet Kanwal, a Holmdel resident and professor of astronomy and physics at Brookdale Community College, said the discovery made on Crawford Hill was by no means a small feat. "It was the light detected by the antenna that finally confirmed our origin and gave us a new story of cosmic evolution," Kanwal said, comparing the site to "the hill on which Moses received the Ten Commandments and the Bodhi tree under which Buddha received his enlightenment.

"To forego an opportunity to preserve and enhance such a landmark is to rob our grandchildren of a new Bethlehem," said Kanwal.

He explained that the 14-billion-year-old photons captured by the antenna in 1964 were racing over Crawford Hill "straight from the fire that gave birth to our universe. It was on that hill a couple of miles down the road that we humans first became aware that we are bathed every moment by the light that emanated from our source," noting that the location is no less than "a pilgrimage to a sacred place."

The ambiguity surrounding ownership of the Horn Antenna is "absurd," said resident Patrick Trischitta, asserting that "humanity" owns it; resident Jay Yanello was "disappointed" that the proceedings have escalated to litigation. He blamed the governing body for not being more "proactive" in securing this and other properties "lying stagnant" in the township.

Area Legislators Bolster Citizens’ Movement

The online petition Save Holmdel's Horn Antenna has garnered over 7,600 signatures from supporters worldwide as of April 19. Several elected officials have now pledged support to the global movement driven by local citizen groups in Holmdel.

U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3) recently submitted a $4 million Community Funding Request to the House Appropriations Committee to preserve the Horn Antenna, a National Historic Landmark.

The funding would be used to purchase the Holmdel Horn Antenna property, preserve the former Bell Telephone Laboratories site and restore the historic satellite communications and radio telescope equipment.

According to the details on Kim's website, the Appropriations Committee has issued guidelines for each representative to request funding for up to 15 projects in their community – although only a handful may actually be funded depending on the availability of federal money.

In his letter addressed to the committee, Kim requested funding for fiscal year 2024. If approved, Holmdel Township will be the recipient of federal funds.

In the March 27 letter, Kim said, "this project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will benefit local and regional conservation efforts, protect the land and existing trials, expand recreational opportunities, prevent the demolition of a National Historic Landmark, and preserve and restore the space for the enjoyment of the community, region and broader world." He further added that preserving the Horn Antenna could "reap economic benefits" in attracting people nationwide once the property is transferred from private ownership and access is made available to the public.

Several Monmouth County legislators have extended their support to the movement. "So much of our history has already been lost to ill-advised development fueled in part by unsustainable affordable housing quotas; we cannot stand idly and let this essential piece of Holmdel history be obliterated," said Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger in a joint press release with Assemblywoman Victoria Flynn issued April 13.

"From Edison to Einstein, to Holmdel's own Robert Wilson, New Jersey is the home of scientific innovation," Flynn said. "We cannot stand by and allow the significant contribution made by Wilson to be erased from our State's history."

The article originally appeared in the April 20 – 26, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.