Post Headquarters at Fort Hancock, Gateway National Recreation Area

Sandy Hook Unit Home Page

FORT HANCOCK WALKING TOUR

Tour Stop #32
Building Number 26
Construction Date: 1899

The Post Headquarters was the administration building for Fort Hancock. It is here that the post commander and his staff worked.

The National Park Service has attempted to lease the buildings at Fort Hancock in exchange for renovation ever since the park opened in 1975, but initially very little effort was put into the program. As a result, many of the buildings have deteriorated at an alarming rate. In 2004, Sandy Hook Partners, LLC (SHP) signed on to renovate and lease 36 buildings, but local citizens and politicians filed a lawsuit to stop this, claiming the National Park Service was privatizing the park. The lawsuit took four years to be resolved, with the National Park Service winning the case in September 2008. However, from the start SHP did not have all of the $70 million needed for the renovations, and with a lawsuit filed, it failed to attract additional investment funds (opponents claimed the money never existed in the first place, which was part of the lawsuit). SHP was able to renovate the Post Chapel, the Post Theater, and the Headquarters Building, but once the recession hit, the SHP dream was over, and in 2009 the National Park Service cancelled the lease on the remaining 33 buildings. After Hurricane Sandy severely damaged the theater—the source of half of SHP’s rental income—SHP was effectively put out of business.

The Post Headquarters was used as the SHP sales office and then the National Park Service headquarters until the hurricane hit. The National Park Service had to move its office to Building 58, but after a second renovation, the office is now back at the former Post Headquarters building.