New Plans Would Relocate Holmdel's Horn Antenna On Crawford Hill Site

HOLMDEL, NJ —The latest plans for townhouses on Crawford Hill still include a spot for the historic Horn antenna, but the designated National Landmark would have to be moved to a new location there, the property owner says.

That idea doesn't sit well with supporters of preservation of the site, who are asking the township to take development there "off the table," saying landmark status would be threatened if the Horn is moved - even at the current site.

The fate of the 43-acre property at 791 Holmdel Road, which has been the home for decades of the Horn antenna used in Nobel Prize-winning research in the 1970s, has been at issue for months now.

Scientific and environmental advocates are calling for its preservation and for the preservation of Crawford Hill as open space, both for its natural attributes and for the scientific significance of the Horn antenna.

The highest spot in Monmouth County was where Bell Labs researchers using the antenna more than 40 years ago picked up microwave radiation that supported the Big Bang Theory of the creation of the universe, winning them a Nobel Prize in physics.

The current owner of the site is Rakesh Antala, a Holmdel resident and principal owner of Crawford Hill Holdings LLC, which has given the township various "concepts" for development of the site, a spokesman for the company said.

But global support for preservation has put the development plans in a new light - for members of the scientific community, the public and the Township Committee.

Mayor DJ Luccarelli said Monday the township is not planning any immediate action regarding the building proposal. Rather, it is waiting for legal action it has taken to determine the actual ownership of the Horn antenna to make its way through the courts.

He said the township could not get a firm response about ownership once an issue came up about Nokia's potential rights to the antenna, so it filed suit recently for a judicial finding on the matter.

"We can't do anything until we know that," he said.

Owner of Crawford Hill tract weighs in

The latest "concept" dated February 2023 was released by the company after a Holmdel environmental group obtained an earlier version of the development from November that seemed to eliminate the Horn altogether.

But the owner says that is not the case:

"The historic Horn Antenna in Holmdel is not at risk, never was at risk and will remain accessible to the public," Antala said in the news release.

Antala is a tech and real estate entrepreneur, the release says, and it says "the preliminary redevelopment documents sent to township officials show that the former Bell Labs antenna will be preserved on Crawford Hill."

The new plan shows the Horn in the upper left of a rendering (see image above) of the development, apart from the townhouses, with space for parking and public access, company spokesman Thom Ammirato explained, referring to the design that accompanied the news release.

Burke Contracting of Ocean Township is working with Crawford Hill Holdings on development of the site.

Bill Stuckey, an executive at Burke and a development consultant, said in the news release: “My firm never would have gotten involved with this redevelopment project if the Horn Antenna was not preserved.”

The antenna sits on a former corporate research campus last owned by Nokia, a Finnish international telecommunications and electronics company. Antala bought the former Bell Labs site from Nokia.

Citizens for Informed Land Use opposes moving Horn antenna

But the Holmdel group Citizens for Informed Land Use late last week said it obtained an earlier plan from November through the Open Public Records Act that showed the historic Horn antenna was missing from the site, according to a news release from that organization.

Earlier versions of the plans, dated January 2022 and April 2022 respectively, show the Horn Antenna located "on a small, fenced-in site set amongst clusters of tightly packed townhomes," the group said. The November 2022 plan no longer contained the Horn antenna, the group said.

"There are growing concerns that if the Horn is removed or relocated from its original site, even if just a few feet, it will forfeit its National Historic Landmark designation," the organization said.

The group also argues that high-density development would be a deviation from the "bucolic environment Holmdel strives to preserve."

Crawford Hill and the Horn are currently in an RL-40 zone, meaning use of the site is limited to laboratories devoted to research, design, or experimentation, the group says.

"The Holmdel Municipal Code and the Master Plan are clear that the current zoning for Crawford Hill does not permit residential housing development, including affordable housing," the group said.

Crawford Hill also lies within an environmentally sensitive planning designation, according to the New Jersey State Planning Act. This protects "irreplaceable resources like Crawford Hill’s scenic views, prime forested areas, recharge zones for potable water aquifers and location within a watershed that supplies drinking water to a reservoir," the organization said.

Preservationists respond to owner

Julie Roth is the new president of Citizens for Informed Land Use, and she said the group "is encouraged that the current property owner of Crawford Hill has responded to the message from Holmdel residents that the historic Horn antenna must remain on site."

But she questioned if the current plan is on file with the township because the township told the group in an email Monday that there was nothing later than the November 2022 plan available.

Be that as it may, she restated that plans for the development are not permitted under current zoning and "depict the Horn antenna in a new location, which would forfeit its National Landmark status."

"The fact that Crawford Hill lies in an environmentally sensitive zone is reason enough to protect the area. Add to that the fact that a National Landmark of cosmic significance sits on the site and it begs the question of why development is even on the table. It's time for Holmdel Township to step up and state that rezoning is not an option."

Owner 'respectful' of antenna; cites scientist

But Antala said the citizens' group "circulated an outdated version of the Crawford Hill redevelopment proposal," and made inaccurate statements about the future of the antenna.

Antala said a copy of the original plan and subsequent iterations made at the request of township "will be available" on the company's website www.crawfordhill.com.

“I am respectful of the antenna’s place in history and my partners and I would do nothing to diminish access to the Horn Antenna,” said Antala who has advanced degrees from Penn Engineering and the Wharton School, according to the news release.

Antala previously worked for Lucent Technologies.

He said in the news release that he "has been in constant contact with Dr. Robert Wilson, the winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1978."

Wilson along with Dr. Arno A. Penzias used the Horn antenna to study microwave radiation beyond the Milky Way galaxy, supporting the Big Bang Theory of the creation of the universe, Antala's company noted in the news release.

Antala said Wilson authorized him to release the following statement on his behalf:

“According to my understanding, the Horn will be preserved and the owner will provide full access to Nokia employees, scientists, journalists, students and the general public. I hope this eases the doubts and negative apprehension some people have expressed.”

Patch was not immediately able to contact Wilson to confirm the statement.

Burke, the development consultant, said the company's plans are for construction of a "low-density, age-restricted active adult community."