Holmdel Flag Should Add Horn Antenna Symbol, Resident Says

HOLMDEL, NJ — The township is just beginning to plan the future of what will now be called Dr. Robert Wilson Park on Crawford Hill, home to the Horn antenna.

On Tuesday, the Township Committee voted to adopt an ordinance so naming the park after the Holmdel resident.

"Dr. Wilson has served as a longtime active member of the Holmdel community; and the Holmdel Township Committee believes it is appropriate to name this new municipal park in honor of Dr. Wilson, one of the Township’s most dedicated residents, whose immeasurable contributions to science have given the Crawford Hill property its historic status," the ordinance reads, in part.

On a cold night with fallen snow from the storm earlier in the day, the meeting was a quiet one with little public comment.

One resident who came out despite the weather told the committee he thought its action in naming the park was "a great thing" and he said he fully supported it.

Resident Patrick Trischitta took his comments a step further: He said the township should consider adding a symbol of the Horn antenna, used by Wilson and his colleague in prize-winning scientific research, to the township flag.

The township seal and/or flag now contains several symbols - a planted field, a fallow field; a barn; two Revolutionary War soldiers; the Bell Labs water tower and 21 stars above a central sun that looks more atomic than agricultural.

Mayor Rocco Impreveduto shared a diagram that explains the symbolism: The fields represent the township's agricultural history; Bayonet Farm Barn represents the township's commitment to open space; the soldiers represent Holmdel's role in the Revolutionary War; the Bell Labs water tower represents the town's history of innovation; the 21 stars signify the 21st Century and its potential for discovery.

Finally, what looks like the sun at the center of the seal is actually a symbol of the Big Bang, Impreveduto said - an event inextricably linked with the Horn antenna.

The Horn antenna is on Crawford Hill and is the instrument of the 1964 discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation by Wilson and his research partner Dr. Arno Penzias. Wilson and Penzias, who died on Jan. 22, received the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery, which is viewed as crucial evidence in support of the Big Bang, the event that generated the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

Resident Trischitta said he felt there would be room on the flag for a depiction of the Horn antenna, too, considering its significance and Holmdel's long history of scientific innovation.

The township is now the owner and steward of the historic structure, and the mayor said the committee will take his suggestion under consideration: "We'll take a look," he said.

Holmdel Township acquired the Crawford Hill property for a net sale price of $4.75 million. The transaction involved a purchase price of $5.5 million, with Crawford Hill Holding donating $750,000 back to the township for improvements to Crawford Hill.

These monies are expected to be used to preserve the Horn antenna, repave access roads, and complete potential improvements such as a visitor center, Impreveduto has said.