Holmdel 'In Negotiations' With Owner Of Horn Antenna Site: Mayor

HOLMDEL, NJ — Supporters of the preservation of the landmark Horn antenna site were given reason to hope this week when Mayor DJ Luccrelli read a statement saying the township is "in negotiations" with the current owner of the 43-acre tract.

He said he was limited in what he could comment on because of the negotiations, but he acknowledged how unique the Horn antenna - used in the development of the Big Bang Theory - is to the township.

Before the public comments part of the meeting, Luccarelli unexpectedly read a statement that can also be heard on the recording of the Township Committee meeting on Feb. 14.

The Horn antenna was used in experiments to detect cosmic microwave background, he said, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Holmdel "is privileged to have this in its borders," he said. "Holmdel has an interest in protecting that."

He said the township took the first step in ensuring the site's future by having the Planning Board designate the area as one "in need of redevelopment."

This gives the township powers it does not ordinarily have, he said, and would permit the township to "negotiate the purchase of a property and objects" on a property, he said of such a designation.

He said the term "redevelopment" is "not a descriptor of what the committee's desire or intent may be."

He said the last time the township designated a property in such a way was for the Bell Labs site, now Bell Works, "by all accounts a success."

He noted that in 2021, residents voted to increase the open space tax, indicating a clear desire to preserve land. He said the committee will use a financial professional to provide a financial review to "assist in our efforts."

After Luccarelli's statement, several residents who came to the meeting to reiterate support for preservation of the Crawford Hill site at 791 Holmdel Road, again expressed their desire to keep the landmark antenna - and its site - preserved.

An online petition, originated by three Holmdel citizen groups, has so far garnered more than 6,500 signatures from around the world, asking to preserve the Holmdel site of Nobel Prize-winning research by two Bell Labs scientists.

Citizens for Informed Land Use, as well as Preserve Holmdel and Friends of Holmdel Open Space all worked together to develop the petition in December.

Upon hearing the mayor's announcement, one resident, Kin Gee, a supporter of preservation, thanked the committee for its efforts, in the public comments session of the meeting.

In a later email to Patch, Gee said "I fully support Holmdel Township's efforts to preserve the Horn antenna and the surrounding Crawford Hill site rather than a 'redevelopment' of the property."

He said studies in the past 20-plus years have "now provided compelling evidence that preserving open space not only increases the quality of life for residents, but is a decision that makes economic sense as well."

Preserving the Horn antenna site "not only honors and celebrates Holmdel's legacy in astronomy and cosmology but also improves the quality of life for Holmdel residents and future generations to come – all at lower tax costs to Holmdel residents."

And Regina Criscione, co-president of Citizens for informed Land Use, when reached after the meeting said the members "appreciate the mayor's comments about the importance of this piece of land for its historic and scientific value. CILU members have worked with the town on preserving open space in the past and look forward to collaborating with the Township Committee regarding this piece of property, if possible."

She added that "CILU has long known that open space preservation is not only valued for health and environmental reasons. Research has shown that it also has economic benefits. Unfortunately, the economic benefits are often overlooked or misunderstood," she said.

The land on which the Horn antenna sits - formerly owned by Bell Labs and then Nokia - is now in private hands.

The property was sold by Nokia to Rakesh Antala, an area technology executive, in January of 2021 for $3.6 million, said Douglas Twyman of Colliers International, who handled the transaction. Twyman said in December that Antala has said he intends to preserve the antenna.

But the site itself is in need of preservation too, astronomy experts and the activist groups have said.

The 43-acre tract seems integral to the understanding of the scientific significance of the Horn antenna, situated on Crawford Hill on the highest point of Monmouth County, they say.

The antenna on the property was once used by Bell Labs scientists Dr. Robert Wilson, who still lives in the township, and Dr. Arno Penzias to study microwave radiation from beyond the Milky Way. Their research using the antenna confirmed evidence of the Big Bang Theory as the origin of the universe. Both scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1978.