Clifton to replace 120-year-old water main to help protect historic quarantine barns

CLIFTON — The city will replace a 120-year-old water main that once brought water to barns that served as the United States Animal Quarantine Station at Clifton and Van Houten avenues, where City Hall now stands.

The main one will be replaced with a larger one capable of carrying more water to the area to protect the same historic structures in case of fire.

A new 6-inch or 8-inch water main will allow for more fire hydrants on the property, which includes City Hall and historic barns, some of which have been updated and converted.

“The whole complex, all these barns, is served by a 2-inch pipe,” City Manager Nick Villano told City Council members. The century-old pipeline likely buckled and “reduced to less than 1 inch due to sediment,” Villano said.

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That water line is insufficient to supply much-needed additional fire hydrants at the 26-acre complex, which was once roamed by exotic animals from around the world as the first quarantine stop in the United States.

The need to replace the water main came to the city’s attention when the Clifton Adult Opportunity Center, a nonprofit that provides programs for adults with developmental disabilities, proposed expanding its building into one of the animal quarantine barn buildings.

In reviewing the expansion plans, the city fire department took a closer look at the center’s proposal to bring a water line from one of the nearby main streets to provide water for its sprinkler system and a fire hydrant.

However, to provide enough water for a network of hydrants and to protect the various barns and buildings, the century-old main should be replaced, the marshal recommended.

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The hydrants are considered necessary because there is currently only one in the complex near the Van Houten entrance. If a fire were to break out at the opposite end of the complex, firefighters would have to connect hoses to get to it.

The city engineer’s office estimated the cost at $750,000 to $900,000. The board approved the manager’s recommendation to run a new line and create a water loop connecting the mains on Colfax and Van Houten avenues.

The money would likely come from American Rescue Plan Act funds the city received to help offset economic damage to towns and cities during the pandemic.

A plan should be relatively straightforward, Villano told the board, because unlike sewer and drain pipes, water pipes are pressurized, making rises along the length of the pipe not a problem. The board approved Villano’s proposal to begin planning the new principal.

Historic site protection

For nearly 80 years, from 1900 to 1979, the property was known as “Ellis Island for animals,” where any animal coming into the country was first quarantined before being moved to other parts of the the country.

Musk oxen, giraffes, cattle, sheep and circus animals roamed the property.

In the late 1970s, the federal government moved the quarantine station to upstate New York at Stewart International Airport.

Today, several of the Clifton barns have been converted. They now serve as the city’s senior center, animal shelter and art center.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Clifton NJ to replace water main to protect historic barns