How You Can Help Save NJ’s Legendary Stanhope House
The Stanhope House is one of the legendary music venues here in New Jersey. It has gone through a number of changes over the years and may possibly be going through another one before the end of the year.
I was joined this morning on “All Mixed Up” by Cristy Benvenutti, the president of the North Jersey Blues Society, and a community volunteer, Greg Jones, to talk about the Stanhope House which may soon fall victim to the wrecking ball.
The list of legendary musicians who have played at the Stanhope House is most impressive, and as someone who has played there a couple of times, I can tell you that the vibe on that stage is amazing.
Help Save the Stanhope House
JIM MONAGHAN – Cristy, tell us about the North Jersey Blues Society, how long it’s been around, what it
does, et cetera.
CRISTY BENVENUTTI – We formed in 2022, we’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and our mission is to bring blues music and blues education to Northern New Jersey.
JM – The Stanhope House, obviously a huge part of that. You look at the artists who have played there over the years – it’s just a Who’s Who of blues artists.
Heck, I even played there a couple of times and I’m not a blues musician by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a wonderful, wonderful venue.
Greg, what are some of your favorite memories of the Stanhope House?
GREG JONES – Well, I think I first started seeing bands there in 1979, maybe. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was amazing. It was a snowy night in January, John McEwen was just amazing.
And then at the end of the year, a whole year later, The Star Ledger did their Top 10 concerts of the year and they were like, you know, Springsteen, a giant stadium or whatever.
And then in number 10, he goes, now I know nobody was there….
But so many over the years, you know, Vassar Clemens and Randy California, those kind of guys back in the 80s and Blue Sparks From Hell, they were the house band for for a decade or more and I very, very close with those guys.
JM – I think one of the bands I saw there most often was John Ginty in one musical configuration or another and just it. John’s music was perfect for that kind of a venue.
GJ – Well, you know, yeah, a lot of music is perfect for that kind of venue. Yeah, with the it’s held forth over the years and and and and kept kept the great lineups regularly until last decade, which I guess we’ll get into.
JM – What is the the status, Christie, of the building right now? I know it goes back what to the 1790s and it’s been a number of different things over the course of its history.
CB – According to the owner, he feels that there’s significant repairs that are needed.
Visually, you can see that the roof needs repair. So that’s that I know is definitely needed.
JM – I saw a figure somewhere and I’m not sure who this was attributed to, but repairs estimated in the vicinity of $300,000. How accurate a number is that?
CB – I don’t believe that’s very accurate. That was from the owner. John Klein stated that. I don’t think a roof costs $300,000.
JM – What about the rest of the interior?
CB – I’ve been inside. I haven’t fallen through anything. I don’t see any holes on the floor.
The bars work. So, you know, the drinks are being poured. Bathroom facilities work.
JM – One of the things that always struck me about the stand up house was how it seamlessly fit into that downtown area. And one of the structures that they’re talking about replacing it with doesn’t.
CB – It doesn’t belong in a historic village district.
GJ – It’s a 1790 building and it was the post office there. It was a tavern. It was, you know, allegedly a brothel. Stories of Babe Ruth, that being one of his hangouts.
The current owner bought it for $535k about 12 years ago. And five years later put on the market for $1.7 million.
And now he’s basically saying it’s a bulldoze job.
When I went and spoke to the public meeting and he said, it needs a new roof. And I said, no, it need it’s 8th new roof.
It needed one in 1830 in 1860 and 1890. The stewards of the fabulous historic building took care of it.
They maintained it. They were responsible.
And he hasn’t.
JM – What about the option of having this building declared a landmark? Is that even viable at this point?
CB – An application has been submitted to the State Historic Society. So it’s underway.
JM – And I know that there’s a hearing a public hearing that’s coming up this Tuesday. If I’m not mistaken, what do you anticipate happening at that meeting, Cristy?
CB – Tuesday, May 14th, seven o’clock at the Valley Road School in Stanhope and our goal is to pack the house and ensure that the residents of Stanhope voice their concern.
GR – Well, it was a little frustrating at the last meeting. It really seems like the board is a monolith. Jim, I went there because I’m a local music advocate. I have had a radio show on WNTI out of Hackettstown for seven years now. It’s considered the number one radio show in New Jersey. No, just kidding.
I constantly have local, local bands in, you know, probably over well over a hundred shows with local local musicians.
So I went to the meeting as a merely to advocate for continuing a legendary blues venue here with a national reputation.
However, I also had shared a planning board in my town in Morris County. And as soon as I saw what they were talking about, it just was so absurd. It’s like exactly the opposite of what you would want to do in planning that this is zoned a village business district.
Anybody trying to build a village business district would kill for a historic tavern. You’re looking for foot traffic and instead they’re putting what looks like a, you know, a public housing in Newark type building.
40 units of five story building. I don’t think there’s anything about three, three stories in, in, in the whole area there.
And so my question was, but I don’t mean to monologue on here, but my question was, and it said, I next to me, it’s like, how is this possibly happening.
As it turns out, the mayor works for the owner John Klein, the president of the council works for the owner John Klein.
They both have recused themselves properly.
The other five just are doing this like it’s a monolith. It’s a redevelopment plan, a one lot spot zoning.
So the whole thing just, you know, my jaw dropped. From a planning perspective, I can’t imagine what they’re trying to accomplish.
JM – What’s the timeframe here? I know that there are shows booked at the Stanhope House, you know, going on for a while yet looking at their website. Cristy, what kind of timeline are we looking at here?
CB – When I spoke to the manager at Stanhope, he said that they were going to be closing their doors at the end of the year.
JM – For WDHA listeners who want to learn more about this, I know there’s a Facebook page, there’s a GoFundMe page, but where can they go to learn more and to help support the efforts to save the Stanhope house?
CB – We have a Facebook page called Save the Stanhope House. You can go there. You can also go to the North Jersey Blues Society website at northjerseybluesociety.org.
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