A Historic Atlantic City School Is Being Demolished
For nearly a century, the New Jersey Avenue School loomed as a neighborhood fixture, its red brick façade and cavernous hallways serving as both a place of learning and a symbol of community pride in AC
Now, weeks after a fire sent plumes of smoke high above the boardwalk, demolition crews are clawing away at what remains.
A Historic Atlantic City School Is Being Demolished
The building had already been slated for demolition this summer, but the blaze that swept through its center on Aug. 8 left it so dangerously unstable that officials had little choice but to accelerate the timeline.
The Saturday after the fire, heavy machinery had begun tearing into the charred structure even as firefighters continued dousing stubborn hot spots.
The Wildwood Video Archive stopped by to film seagull shots of the building so that this historic building will live on in the archive. You can watch that video at the bottom of the article.
Constructed in the early 20th century, the New Jersey Avenue School educated generations of Atlantic City children, many of them the sons and daughters of immigrant families who had settled in the resort town to work in its hotels and casinos.
The school had stood empty since 2012, when Hurricane Sandy battered the Jersey Shore and left the building badly damaged by flooding.
City officials eventually deemed it beyond repair, its classrooms too costly to restore. Students were dispersed to other schools, while the structure itself became one more symbol of the storm’s enduring scars.
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For years it sat vacant, windows broken and hallways abandoned, until the city decided to replace it with a new district administration building.
Demolition had been scheduled for late Summer, giving residents one final chance to see a landmark erased by time and circumstance.
The fire altered that plan. Thick black smoke curled skyward, visible for miles along the shore, as firefighters scrambled to keep the flames from spreading.
No one was injured, but by the time the fire was brought under control, the damage was too extensive to leave the structure standing.
The new building planned for the site, officials say, will serve as a hub for the Atlantic City School District.
For many who passed through its doors, however, the demolition represents more than progress. It marks the final chapter of a building woven into the city’s story, an institution lost not only to storm and fire, but also to the steady march of time.
Below is our drone footage of the demolition of the New Jersey Avenue School. Before you watch please do consider subscribing to our Youtube Channel.