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Reacting to the theft of thirty-four decorative copper panels once on Convention Hall, the Asbury Park Historical Society will request the city council and boardwalk redeveloper Madison Marquette disclose more information about the incident.

At an emergency meeting on Saturday, the Historical Society Board of Trustees — several shown above — also tentatively agreed to ask the Monmouth County Prosecutor and state Attorney General to investigate the theft themselves, if the group is not satisfied with the information provided.

The Asbury Park Police Department has investigated the matter, and declared the case closed.  “All leads have been exhausted,” said Police Chief Mark Kinmon.

The Historical Society will also offer a $5,000 reward for information leading to the retrieval of the panels. The trustees hope individuals will match that amount to increase the reward.

Madison Marquette, which owns Convention Hall, first reported the panels stolen to the Asbury Park police on Aug. 2, 2011, but city officials said they were unaware of the theft until 10 days ago on March 22, according to a report in the Coaster newspaper.

The panels had been removed to enable a structural inspection of the building. They were stolen from the vacant Sunset pavilion just north of Convention Hall, the Coaster reported.

Several of those present at the Historical Society meeting asked why the city administration and public first learned of the theft almost eight months after the police report. Questions were also raised as to when Madison Marquette first learned of the theft.

Historical Society Trustee John Moor, however, said the group must first review the police report of the incident, which will be requested Monday, before coming to any conclusions

“Should the police have kicked it upstairs to the city manager? Yes, if (the police report) said the panels were stolen. If not, and Madison Marquette just reported copper stolen, I wouldn’t kick it upstairs,” Moor said. “We have to get the police report.”

Last week, Madison Marquette spokeswoman Carrie Turner issued the following statement: “Copper panels from Convention Hall, which had been removed to make necessary repairs to the building, were stolen in late 2011. Madison Marquette has been working with the Asbury Park Police Department and the matter is in the court system. We remain hopeful that some or all of the parcels can be recovered and we remain committed to the repair and restoration of Convention Hall.”

In an effort to increase the odds of recovery, the Society will also provide information to Madison Marquette about placing the stolen panels on the international Art Loss Registry.

“If these things come up anywhere at auction if they’re still intact, they are not going to move in a public forum. They’re going to be found,” said architect Keith Johnson, who said the registry is linked into the FBI, Scotland Yard and Interpol.  The Historical Society will also notify state and federal historic preservation officials of the theft.

But Johnson agreed with attendee Bruce Belfer, who expressed skepticism that the panels could be recovered.

“The way copper is stolen is for scrap,” Belfer said, “they don’t care if they’re artistic or beautiful or age specific to the building. They take them and scrap them. They grind them up like old tree stumps.”

A thief would also encounter difficulty selling the panels intact, said Belfer. “You’d have to find a buyer to take the risk to buy an identifiable item like this.”

Using its email list, the trustees will also ask the public to attend Wednesday night’s city council meeting, where Society trustees plan to address the council directly on the issue.

“We have standing to ask the questions,” said trustee Jim Henry of the demand for information from the city and redeveloper. “We don’t have any authority to enforce the answers. We have the authority to raise the questions and raise them publicly. We cannot make accusations because we have no idea of what we’re accusing anyone of at this point.

The value of the missing 1930s era embossed panels is over $100, 000, a Madison Marquette official told the Sun last week.

Convention Hall, which was built in 1929, is listed on national and state historic registries. To see a photo of the copper panels on Convention Hall, click here for a previous Sun story on the theft.

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