Trump Eliminates Sandy Hook Group Tasked With Building Re-Use

HIGHLANDS, NJ — As part of his efforts to reduce federal spending, President Donald Trump just eliminated the Fort Hancock 21st Century Federal Advisory Committee.

This was the group tasked with finding a way to re-purpose the dilapidated former U.S. Army buildings at the tip of Sandy Hook. The National Park Service, which oversees Sandy Hook, announced here on their website the group was terminated.

"Consistent with Executive Order 14217, Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, the Fort Hancock 21st Century Federal Advisory Committee was terminated by (U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum) on February 27, 2025," the National Park Service announced.

Former North Dakota governor Burgum cut five other similar parks committees across the nation. Burgum wrote the committees are "unnecessary and have fulfilled the purposes for which they were established."

The Sandy Hook committee was established by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2013. They were supposed to come up with a plan to re-purpose the buildings that housed Army officers and their families when Sandy Hook was Fort Hancock, a U.S. Army base and weapons proving ground.

The row of 21 homes overlooking Sandy Hook Bay is known locally as "Officers' Row." The buildings are stately, but many have become decrepit, dilapidated and are unsafe to enter.

For the past 12 years, the group has failed to come up with a permanent plan as to how to best re-use the buildings.

Multiple private developers have tried to turn Officers' Row into condos or apartments, and one also wanted to open a food/sundries store with a liquor license. But after getting pushback from Congressman Frank Pallone and others, those plans were abandoned.

Other entrepreneurs sought to turn the buildings into summer vacation rentals or a destination wedding site (there is a chapel on the property) — all of which also did not happen.

Still others suggested turning the buildings into private homes, a bed and breakfast, art studios, restaurants, a sailing school and even a hospice. For some reason, none of these plans ever materialized.

The National Park Service has said it cannot afford to renovate the buildings on its own.

"The Fort Hancock 21st Century Federal Advisory Committee was disbanded on February 27, 2025. There was no funding associated with this group," said Daphne Yun, a spokeswoman for Gateway National Recreation Area. "The Fort Hancock leasing program will continue even without the Advisory Committee, and Gateway will continue to work toward preserving these historic structures."

Prior: Developer Wants To Build Sandy Hook Apts.; Congressman Opposed (2020)

Summer Vacation Rentals Planned for Sandy Hook National Recreation Area (2016)

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