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MONMOUTH BOAT CLUB FLOATS PLAN TO SHORE UP FOUNDATION

By BRIAN DONOHUE

Red Bank’s 146-year-old Monmouth Boat Club will present its long-awaited plan to replace rotting pilings to help save the endangered historic structure Thursday.
Club representatives are slated to go before the Red Bank Zoning Board of Adjustment seeking the board’s  interpretation of borough codes regarding flood damage protection, according to an agenda posted to the Borough’s web site.
The Zoning Board will also consider an application by Riverview Medical Center, which is seeking a variance to install a new sign for its Johnson Rehabilitation Center.
Several variances are required because the sign exceeds the maximum size allowed and is internally lit, which is prohibited under borough zoning laws, according to the agenda.

The Monmouth Boat Club during an October 2025 nor’easter. (Photo by Brian Donohue)

The Monmouth Boat Club has spent years raising money and drawing up plans to restore the building’s foundation.

Last year, the organization Preservation New Jersey placed the structure on its annual list of the ten most endangered historic sites in New Jersey.

The entry on the organization’s website reads:

“Built atop 50 wooden pilings, the structure has been gradually leaning toward the river due to decades of deterioration. Rising sea levels, increased flooding, and other climate-related threats—including hurricanes, coastal and riverine flooding, and strong winds—are accelerating the damage. Without urgent intervention, the building risks slipping off its foundation entirely, potentially rendering it unsalvageable. 

To ensure the club’s survival, the foundation must be replaced with a modern, durable system capable of withstanding marine conditions. Without this repair, the club faces the loss of its historic home—an outcome that would likely result in the transformation of the site into private or commercial development, erasing yet another piece of New Jersey’s waterfront heritage.

The designation was followed by the New Jersey Historic Preservation fund giving the club a $750,000 grant for the project.

Additional funds are being raised through private donations to the nonprofit Friends of the Monmouth Boat Club.  

The plan calls for the existing building to be moved to the parking lot, allowing new pilings to be installed and the building put back in place.

The meeting begins at 6:30 pm at Borough Hall, 90 Monmouth Street.

The full agenda can be found here.

redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331.

 

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