Pou Bill to Preserve Famed Paterson Historic Sites Signed into Law

Bill Preserves Hinchliffe Stadium, Great Falls Power Plant & Old Paterson Post Office

(35th Legislative District) - Legislation Assemblywoman Nellie Pou sponsored to preserve three key Paterson historic sites was signed into law on Monday.

The legislation (A-4508) appropriates about $10.85 million from 2009 Historic Preservation Fund and the 2007 Historic Preservation Fund to provide grants for historic preservation projects.  The funding was approved by voters during 2007 and 2009 referendums.

Among other projects, the bill provides:

• $500,000 for the efforts by Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium to preserve the former Negro League baseball field in Paterson.
• $180,000 for the S.U.M. Great Falls Power Plant in Paterson.
• $50,000 for the Old Paterson Post Office in Paterson.

"These sites are key to Paterson's vibrant history and worthy of preservation so generations to come to be able to understand and learn about our heritage," said Pou (D-Passaic/Bergen).  "Whether it be Hinchliffe Stadium and the story it tells about our national pastime and civil rights, the Great Falls Power Plant and its story of our industrial advances or the Old Paterson Post Office and its story of architecture, all these sites hold a shared history that bring us all together.  The voters have made their support for preserving projects like these clear, and I look forward to that support paying off for years to come."