By Mary Walton, Blogfinger literary editor

Back in 1999, Ocean Grove historian Ted Bell decided to do a simple brochure about Fredrick Theodore Camp, architect of the Great Auditorium. Just a picture of Camp, a few paragraphs about his life and some notes on the building.

Probing for information, he visited the Monmouth County Archives. A folder with Camp’s name offered little information about the architect, but it did contain 86 pages of agreements and specifications outlining in great detail the work to be done by contractors on the building’s major systems. Bell knew he had chanced upon a treasure trove of information.

As a consequence, what started out as a brochure developed into a handsome 134-page book titled The Great Auditorium: Ocean Grove’s Architectural Treasure. It is now on sale at the Historical Society of Ocean Grove for $19.95 and is the basis for an extensive exhibit that will open shortly. The book is also on order at other book stores in town.

Early on, Bell recruited Darrell Dufresne, an engineer, to take photographs. Eventually Dufresne was crawling around above the auditorium, where a thicket of steel trusses, cables and beams hold the building together in sometimes creative ways, and below, where massive wooden pipes funnel cool air in and hot air out.

The project grew. Said Dufresne, “We would be talking about something and say, ‘That would be great in the book.'”

Several years into the project the two men had gathered reams of information. One evening they got together to mesh their respective boxes of research.

“We failed miserably to get it done,” said Dufresne. “So Ted called his daughter.”

Enter Cindy Bell, an associate professor of music education at Hofstra University, a fifth generation Grover and a member of the auditorium choir. She took on the role of production manager. In an early decision, she thought the sections on construction needed rounding out. The book now contains extensive background on the auditorium’s history and a chapter on contemporaneous halls elsewhere in the country. But when they started, she said, “I don’t think we ever imagined we would have a book like this.”

In an interview over lunch at The Starving Artist last week, the three authors joked with each other about the work. “We had a lot of fun,” said Dufresne, “and we all learned a great deal.”

On the cover is a photograph of the auditorium that Dufresne took during the March 2010 blizzard. Rarely has the auditorium been featured in a white landscape, and the image is dazzling. Said Bell, “Everyone who saw it said ‘Wow!’ because it’s not your normal picture.”

Completed in 1894, the Great Auditorium was the fourth structure for worshippers since the founding of Ocean Grove 25 years earlier and a project dear to the heart of Ellwood Haines Stokes, Camp Meeting president from 1869 to 1897. With summer crowds swelling rapidly, he foresaw the need for a large auditorium as early as 1883. Beginning in 1892, he lobbied tirelessly and eloquently for $50,000 to pay for construction.

“The day of small things with us is past,” he said on one occasion. “The day of great opportunity has come. For a long time, I have carried the burden of this New Auditorium. I bend beneath its weight. Will you, by your decided action this day, help me bear it?”

The Great Auditorium offers an intimate look at the building’s innards and the men behind it, from the Millikin Brothers of Brooklyn, who assembled the astonishing iron work above the parabolic hanging wainscot ceiling, to church builders Hopkins & Roberts, who took care of the intricate carpentry, plus others responsible for the painting, the plumbing, the electricity, the seating and even the light bulbs. The Articles of Agreements and Specifications are reproduced in full.

Dufresne contributed a forward, as amusing as it is enlightening, titled “Comments on Rods, Cables, Domes, Arches, Buttresses and Why the Romans Could Not Build the Ocean Grove Auditorium.” Bell, an environmentalist of long standing, made sure the book included a section on landscaping.

Throughout, the text is easy to navigate. Said Bell, “We decided to put out a book that was readable, that did not have one hundred footnotes per page.” His hope is that it will encourage more people to undertake research. If so, “then we’ve done our job.”

The refreshments committee — those dedicated folks who sell hotdogs, snacks and drinks during auditorium events — contributed $1,000 to publication, and the authors came up with another $1,200. The authors have donated 25 copies of the book to the Historical Society, where they can be purchased.

Cindy Bell said she resisted the publisher’s suggestion for a higher price. “I wanted $20 to buy this book,” she said, “It was never about the money.”

Authors (l to r) Darrell Dufresne, Cindy Bell and Wayne “Ted” Bell Jr. Photo by Shirley Bell