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HAMBURG – The smooth stucco on Sussex County's Gingerbread Castle may once again gleam like fresh frosting.

The whimsical castle seemingly supplanted from Grimms’ Fairy Tales is undergoing renovations to restore the 90-year-old structure. Built in 1928 by a baker, the castle once served as the center of a fairy tale-themed park where Hansel and Gretel led tours and gingerbread men were baked on site.

Attempts to refurbish the castle under individual ownership have failed in the past, as have attempts to restore the mill for housing and retail by real estate developers. New owner Donald Oriolo purchased the property in June 2017, records show. Artists have recently been spotted on site painting some of the ornamentation.

“I saw it was starting to fall into a severe state of neglect and I wanted to see that it would be preserved. It’s an important part of history,” Oriolo recently told News 12 New Jersey.

Ornate brackets, tile murals from the Flint Faience Tile Company and other decorative pieces adorn the structure conceived by landowner F.H. Bennett and designed by Joseph Urban. Urban, a renowned Austrian-American architect, specialized in American Art Deco construction. His work includes the Paramount Theatre in Palm Beach, Florida, the original six-story International Magazine Building (Hearst Tower) in New York City and Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's private club in Palm Beach.

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Nevertheless, it was a set created by Urban for a production of Hansel and Gretel at the Metropolitan Opera of New York City that caught Bennett’s imagination. The baking magnate’s company produced Milk Bone dog biscuits among other products at a mill that today casts a shadow over the castle.

Constructed in 1808 and operated for the next 135 years, the mill helped spread the story of the pastel-frosted castle. The mill started life as a modest stone structure. Under Bennett’s decade of ownership that started in 1921, the mill was renamed Wheatsworth Mill and exploded in size with five- and six-story concrete additions.

The castle was built near the end of Bennett’s ownership on a stone kiln that remained from the site’s 19th century owner: The Wallkill Cement and Lime Company. The foundation was used to construct Urban’s structural representation of his fairy tale theater backdrop for a reported $250,000. The concrete structure with cylindrical turrets opened to the public in 1930.

Statues of elephants, seals and knights guarded the exterior. Carved gnomes, fairies and witches lined the interior, where electric spiders crawled over copper webs.

The castle operated until its first closure in 1978, when admission was 75 cents for children. The park reopened in 1989, after the mill was vacated, but closed within a few years.

The site was designated in 2009 by local officials as the Wheatsworth Mill/Gingerbread Castle Historic District. In 2012, it landed on Preservation New Jersey’s list of its 10 Most Endangered Historic Places.

Today, a wooden shoe, a dragon and Humpty Dumpty still dot the property that once contained a small-gauge railroad train. The décor is like what was found in Fairy Tale Forest in the nearby Oak Ridge section of West Milford. That fable-themed park is also undergoing a renovation.

The mill, however, remains in disrepair due to a partially-collapsed roof. After leaving Bennett’s ownership in 1931, the site was operated by Nabisco, Canterbury Mills and, finally, Plastoid. The latter company closed the site after using it as office space through the 1980s.

Reporter Keldy Ortiz contributed to this report.

New Jersey is full of stories about places that once were hugely popular, only to fade over the years and eventually disappear.

But imagine, for a moment, if one of those long-ago attractions came back.

Would it be possible to recapture the magic?

That is the essence of what is being attempted in Hamburg at the 90-year-old Gingerbread Castle, formerly a fairy tale-themed playground.

Don Oriolo bought the empty castle in 2017, undeterred by at least two failed efforts to recapture its prior glory, and is slowly bringing it back to life. The structure has been stabilized and Humpty Dumpty’s busted legs have been fixed.

“My family was in the entertainment business, so it seemed like a natural fit,” said Oriolo, whose grandfather helped create “Casper the Friendly Ghost” in the 1930s and later the “Felix the Cat” TV series.

His vision is for a 21st Century version of the castle, perhaps with some interactive flourishes, bolstered by festivals and other events.

There was a time when the Gingerbread Castle was among the biggest attractions in Sussex County. Actors portraying Hansel and Gretel brought visitors inside, 15 at a time, to marvel at statues depicting Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, the birds baked in a pie from “Sing a Song of Sixpence,” the flying witch on a broom, and others.

Dan Barr vividly recalls his first visit, at age 4 in the mid-1960s, and marveling during subsequent visits at the “witch’s brew” from Hansel and Gretel (Spoiler alert: The witch unsuccessfully tried to cook them).

“It was a fascinating place for a little kid,” said Barr, Hamburg’s acting historian and a former member of the council.

By the late 1970s, though, the thrills were fading. The Gingerbread Castle closed - it reopened for a couple of years in the late 1980s - and after that was used only for special events, such as a haunted house around Halloween.

The castle’s decline saddened many, but especially Robert Allen.

Allen was born in 1928, the year construction began on the castle, and he lived across the street from it as a child.

“I was 10 years old, and I went berserk when I saw that thing,” said Allen, now 91 and living in Franklin.

There was a small train ride not far from from the castle - nothing fancy by today’s standards, but epic back in the day. Allen said it cost 25 cents per ride.

“The kids went bananas on that thing,” Allen said.

Allen has been volunteering technical guidance to Oriolo’s restoration project. Restoring the castle to its former glory, and seeing young children enjoy it as he once did, remains his dream.

Allen said he visited the castle “all the time” as a child, and felt like he “was in the most important place that anyone could be."

Barr shares his nostalgia for the castle.

“As a little kid, I was terrified of Little Miss Muffet, with a giant spider coming down,” he said.

But Barr also acknowledged that his memories were formed in a much simpler time, when the sophistication of children’s entertainment was nowhere near what it is today.

“We had to wait a year, every year, to watch the 'Wizard of Oz," and we looked forward to it. Today, kids can watch any movie, any show, any time - on their phone," Barr said.

It is possible to interest children accustomed to video games, laser tag and other attractions in anything like the Gingerbread Castle?

Barr isn’t sure, but is optimistic.

“If anyone can do it, Don is a very creative guy,” he added.

Oriolo got an unusual introduction to the castle two decades ago. His father, also named Don Oriolo, is an artist, musician and writer, but perhaps best-known for shepherding his grandfather’s “Felix the Cat” into an international branding powerhouse.

The elder Oriolo was executive producer of “Campfire Stories,” a 2001 horror movie that starred “Sopranos” actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler and filmed in part near the Gingerbread Castle.

He gave his son, too young to have experienced the castle in is heyday, a bit part in the movie.

“A nice little connection there,” said Don Oriolo, who recalled seeing photos of his grandfather and father, along with an aunt and an uncle, at the Gingerbread Castle.

On the second to last Friday of 2019, Oriolo invited a reporter inside the castle as the sun was setting. A spiral staircase with steps caked in ice led to a door, and then the main portion of the castle where the restored wishing well extends to the dungeon room.

There was not a lot to see.

“Two owners before me, who lost it originally to foreclosure, had stripped the place of just about everything you could,” he said.

An original, stained-glass window - Oriolo said he plans to replicate it for elsewhere in the castle - was visible in the room. So, too, were stone design features attributed to architect Joseph Urban, who in addition to designing the castle helped create Mar-a-Largo, today known as President Donald Trump’s resort, in Florida.

Outside the castle, Humpty Dumpty was back on his wall, his legs repairs and freshly painted. A large shoe - from the tale, “there once was an old woman who lived in a shoe" - was prominent near the rear of the one-acre property.

Oriolo’s efforts are drawing much interest in Hamburg, which is home to about 3,000 and continues to embrace the empty castle as its signature attraction.

In 2013, two decades after it closed, borough officials installed “Welcome to Hamburg” signs, on Route 23 and Route 94, proclaiming it the home of the Gingerbread Castle.

Barr said some street names - King Cole Street, Prince Street, Cinderella Street, and Wishing Well Street - were inspired by the castle.

Urban Street is named for the castle’s architect. The castle itself is located on Gingerbread Castle Road.

Oriolo spoke of hosting festivals on the grounds, and having craft and art sales, maybe bringing in bands for performances.

“They basically had Hansel and Gretel bring a small group of kids and parents through the castle and just tell nursery rhymes. I think, probably, we’ll do something a little bit extra, more interactive stuff. We’re going to add to the experience,” he said.

He said he envisions it as “basically what it was, an entertainment place for families and kids - but I’d like to cater to older people as well.”

“It’ll be a more modern experience, so they’ll be more to do,” he said.

In the meantime, Humpty Dumpty waits on his wall.

This article is part of “Unknown New Jersey,” an ongoing series that highlights interesting and little-known stories about our past, present, and future -- all the unusual things that make our great state what is it. Got a story to pitch? Email it to [email protected].

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Philip DeVencentis

WAYNE — The zoning board has rejected a proposal to build a self-storage facility on Hamburg Turnpike after its members expressed reservations about the size of the building.

The proposal for the five-story facility by Florida-based Basis Industrial was denied by a 5-2 majority of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, which heard testimony from a handful of experts at a public hearing on Monday.

The developer needed a use variance because such facilities are not allowed in the township’s zone for office buildings.

Board member Hilary Caruso said the proposed structure at 555 Hamburg Turnpike was too “massive” for the 3.5-acre site, now occupied by a single-family home of 1,136 square feet.

“I think it’s an eyesore,” Caruso said in making a motion to reject the plan. “I think the height is a problem.”

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The plan was met by mild opposition, as just two or three people showed real displeasure with it.

Joan Sarra, for one, said the facility “does not belong” in the proposed location.

“I have pride in this town,” said Sarra, who lives at Four Seasons at Wayne, a condominium complex. “I wish someone would get on my bandwagon and have the same pride. We’re building too big of buildings on small properties.”

Developer made changes after prior hearing

Amee Farrell, an attorney for Basis Industrial, told the board that her client had worked hard to fine-tune its plan since similar objections were made at a public hearing on July 17.

Those revisions resulted in a smaller building.

Christopher Michalek, an architect representing the developer, said the structure was reduced from 102,000 square feet to 97,000 square feet. Although it was technically five stories tall, it would have appeared to be four stories tall from the road because its cellar would not have been visible.

Michalek said he went a step further to break up the mass of the structure by setting back the top floor.

'It's a very tough site'

Buildable space on the irregularly shaped property is constrained by steep slopes and an unnamed tributary of Preakness Brook, which flows through the site. The design was also hampered by feedback from Passaic County officials, who said in their review of the plan that they intend to take up to 12 feet of frontage along the road for future improvements.

That caused Michalek to have to shrink the footprint of the structure and to make it taller.

“We’re doing the best we can,” said Anthony Scavo, the chief operating officer of Basis Industrial. “I think it’s a very tough site.”

Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

By Jon "Ferris" Meredith

WAYNE, NJ – The not-so-eagerly-anticipated jughandles at the intersection of Alps Road and Hamburg Turnpike in Wayne are now open and new traffic patterns are in place. Yet some drivers are unaware of the changes and honking horns was the norm during evening traffic on Monday.

To get up to speed on the changes, here’s what you need to know.

A new traffic light is now in operation on Hamburg Turnpike at the Preakness Shopping Center. This light allows for all turns from all directions and leads you to the two new jughandles…

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No More Westbound Left Turns Onto Alps Road - Photo by Brian Borchard

The most important change to note is when driving on Hamburg Turnpike westbound, you can no longer make a left turn onto southbound Alps Road.

To do this now, you will need to make a left at the new traffic light on Hamburg at the Preakness Shopping Center before you get to Alps Road. Then follow the southern jughandle around to Alps and make a left at that new light.

When driving eastbound on Hamburg Turnpike, you still cannot make a left onto Alps Rd, but now you can make a left or right turn at the traffic signal at the Preakness Shopping Center just after the Alps Rd intersection. Finally, a legal shortcut to get to Berdan Avenue via the Alps Road Extension!

Eastbound on Hamburg Tpk Now Has Left Turn Into Preakness Shopping Center - Photo by Brian Borchard

If you are on Alps Road heading north to the Hamburg Turnpike, there is a dedicated left turn lane to access Hamburg heading west and two through lanes continuing on to Alps Road Extension, along the Preakness Shopping Center. If you want to turn right onto Hamburg Turnpike when heading north on Alps, you need to make the right at the jughandle, then follow it around to the Hamburg Turnpike and make a right at that light there.

This project is not yet complete and the Passaic County road construction will continue with the widening of Hamburg Turnpike, repaving, curbing, signage and striping of the roads. It was predicted that the two-year project would be completed in April 2024, and perhaps the county will deliver this completed project on time.

Drivers that regularly use this intersection would be very happy.

WAYNE — A new shopping center, preschool and fast-food restaurant will be built on a wooded tract on Hamburg Turnpike.

The Planning Board on Monday approved the development — to be called The Parke at Hamburg — for construction on the westbound side of the commercial artery, near the intersection with Valley Road. The 7-acre lot is next to a Japanese restaurant.

Mayor Christopher Vergano, who sits on the board, said tenants are still being sought.

A plan on file with the Building Department shows that the project will have three structures: a 5,000-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru lane; a 12,850-square-foot day care facility and preschool; and a 30,500-square-foot retail building, to be divided among five tenants.

At least one of those tenants will be a restaurant. The largest retail space to be occupied is 13,500 square feet, and according to a recent memo to board members from Township Planner Christopher Kok, it could be the home of a grocery store. The smallest retail space is 2,240 square feet.

The main entrance to the strip mall will be at the intersection of Hamburg Turnpike and Leonard Terrace, where a traffic light will be installed. The shopping center will have 335 parking spots.

Bryan Murray, director of marketing for township-based March Associates Construction Inc., the contract purchaser of the property, did not return a call on Tuesday for details about the project's timeline.

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Eighty-six trees will be felled before construction proceeds, but they will be replaced by more than 250 trees.

March Associates, with offices 1.5 miles from the future strip mall, has planned and constructed more than $2.8 billion worth of commercial, hospitality and residential projects in the Northeast.

Its portfolio includes a 30,000-square-foot mixed-use building at Boulder Run shopping center in Wyckoff, and the 260,000-square-foot retail complex called Clifton Commons off Route 3 east.