Central Ave School (Ocean City Police Station)

Ocean City is one of New Jersey's most popular beach destinations. During the peak tourism season the city's population balloons to more than 10 times its permanent resident count. As a result lots of folks who vacation there have a strong sense of nostalgia for the buildings and landmarks they grew up with. The old courthouse and police station was one of these landmarks.

The handsome red brick building on Central Avenue was built as a school around 1884, when the borough was first incorporated. 

By 1965 the city had built a new elementary school to replace the aging building. Instead of being torn down, it was transformed into a police station and municipal courthouse.

Despite a widespread negative reputation relating to sex crimes and employee misconduct, the Ocean City police department claimed they deserved a new building. The entire department relocated in March of 2026 to a temporary station near the boardwalk.

Initially mayor Jay Gillian stated he wanted the project to be under way by Memorial Day in anticipation of the tourism season. Unfortunately for the department demolition of the building was delayed for several months. 

Heavy machinery arrived to tear the old building down in November of 2026. The new station is expected to cost $30 million, quite the burden to put on each of the city's taxpayers. Hopefully the officers appreciate the gift they got here and treat people who live and visit the city better than they have been.

Hoffman LaRoche Diagnostics

One of New Jersey's largest industries is Pharmaceuticals, and thats been the case since the late 1800s. Johnson & Johnson was founded in New Brunswick in 1886, and afterwards several large pharma companies worked to establish a presence to compete with them. By the 1920s Hoffman LaRoche had outgrown their New York offices and began building a massive complex in Nutley. After World War II, they ended up moving most of their operations from Switzerland to New Jersey. Establishing several satalite campuses to support their mission. 

The company purchased a seven acre parcel on the Verona Montclair border in 1954 to open a new 50,000 square foot diagnostics center. Feitlowitz & Kosten and Robert Silverman were the architects hired for the redesign, while Eastman Construction Company handled the physical work.

Just a few decades later the company built a huge campus in Branchburg to relocate some of their operations. The Verona location was targeted for relocation in the 1990's, and instead of trying to sell the property it was donated to an organization that operated a school for autistic kids.

The neighborhood vehemently opposed the idea of the school at the time, going so far as to hire lawyers and sue to block them from opening. Their efforts were unsuccessful, and the school opened in 1999.

My first experience with the school came in the mid 2000s. Back then "finding spots" referred to looking for local places to rip up on my skateboard. I only attempted to make my way behind the building once. An administrator showed up to kick me out faster than I had ever been booted before.

In 2016 the school rebranded as the Academy 360 Lower School.

News first broke of a plans for a high density housing development on the site in 2018. Residents were once again outraged, fighting every step of the way to ensure their quiet neighborhood wouldnt be disturbed again. 

Unfortunately for the neighbors plans were approved in 2022. The development was given a PILOT agreement, which stands for payment in lieu of taxes. These agreements grant multi million and billion dollar real estate companies decades long tax abatements for their hugely profitable developments in exchange for a one time payment. While such a program could make sense for some municipalities, they had been being abused in Verona for years. The council continued to give sweetheart deals to developers while the average taxpayer in town saw staggering raises in their tax bills.

The school moved to their new location on July 31st, 2026. I didn't even realize it was empty until J drove by and saw the temporary fencing around the property. The next day I grabbed my gear and headed to the school.

The first door I walked up to was propped open. Demolition prep had already begun, but I was glad the building was mostly intact while I went from room to room.

Since it wasn't built as a school the gym was shoehorned into a space off the lobby. There wasnt a proper auditorium or pool.

A few weeks later I drove by again and saw heavy machinery had begun tearing down the school. While I'm glad the students have a new space in Livingston its frustrating to see a perfectly functional building torn down. Hopefully at some point in the future this type of waste will be prohibitively expensive. 

Central Unitarian Church

 Central Unitarian Church occupied a small modern building at 156 Forest Ave in Paramus.

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The 13,500 square foot building was built in 1956 in a midcentury modern style.

By 2023 the church closed and the congregation put the church on the market. It ended up selling for over six million dollars.

Grace Community Chapel purchased the property with the intention of building their new house of worship on the land.

The old church was finally demolished in 2026. Im grateful the space will continue to maintain a passive presence in the town as opposed to some overpriced, ugly apartment building.

Penn Theater

The way we watch movies has changed a lot over the years. During the first big wave in popularity live performance venues were being converted to movie houses. By the 1920s we entered the age of the "movie palace", which were ornate, purpose built movie theaters with enhanced sight lines, sound, and lighting. After the second World War a handful of factors saw a huge decline in the industry. Things wouldn't really come back around again until the 1960s when huge shopping malls began incorporating them as part of their entertainment array.

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The Penn Theater opened in February of 1966. The building was originally a single screen with space for 750 inside the auditorium. 

By the end of the 1970s the single auditorium space was split into two separate rooms, and the theater rebranded itself the Penn Twin.  

The theater underwent a massive modernization effort in the late 90's, reopening as Premier Cinemas in 1999. 

Plans called for several more auditoriums to be constructed in the following years, but the theater never saw that level of demand. By 2006 the venue was permanently closed. 

A news article from 2007 describes an arson attack that left the interior of the theater a total wreck. No attempts were ever made to reopen the building after that. 

The building continued to languished for another 19 years, but it was ultimately demolished over the summer of 2026. With that, Salem County was entirely without a movie theater for the first time in 60 years. 

Sayreville Generating Station

Back in the day, before smartphones existed, I spent many hours as a passenger in the car with my parents. We would often spend our weekends riding down the Parkway to visit the shore. Whether it was just a short trip to Island Beach State Park or the long haul to Wildwood, I was constantly looking out the window for landmarks. It was basically all I had as a bored child with ADHD. Many of these landmarks were looming industrial buildings or abandoned structures, and in many cases both at the same time. When we hit the Driscoll Bridge, my eyes would be locked on the gorgeous E. H. Werner Generating Station that used to stand in South Amboy. Even from a distance I was in awe of its Art Deco brickwork and gigantic arched windows, larger than those of a cathedral. I had no idea that there was another incredible generating station on the Sayreville side of the bridge as well. I never got to see the inside of the Werner Station for myself, and that still bothers me to this day. I wasn't going to end up missing Sayreville Generating Station too. 

Source: Historical Plant Cost and Anual Production Expenses for Selected Electric Plants 1982

The Sayreville station predated Werner by nearly a decade. It was built by the Eastern New Jersey Power Comany. The group, incorporated in 1923, had been snapping up utilities in the area. They had actually purchased the famed Sayre & Fisher Brick Company complex in 1927 due to the power station they already operated. Almost immediately Eastern NJ Power Co. began construction on a dedicated generating station just outside the brickworks. 

An Art Deco design was chosen for the new plant. The facade was made of rich red Sayreville brick with limestone accents. The materials were brought right over from the adjoining S & F company, and since the power company owned the brickworks they didn't have to worry about cost. 

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The interior was lined with the gorgeous enamel glazed brick that helped make the Sayre & Fisher Company famous. The designers used No. 101 (Cream) for the field and No. 150 (Green) for the accents.

Eastern NJ Power Co. was acquired by Jersey Central Power & Light. The footprint of the plant was expanded beginning in 1953, as demand for electricity continued to grow in the region. A 137,500kW generator was installed on the north end of the station. 

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This new unit was able to run on either coal or oil, depending on which was more available at the time.

Another new unit, including a second 137,500kW generator was added between 1957 and 1958. This was the last large expansion the plant would ever see. Over the next few decades new turbine design and changes in fuel preference changed the way we generate power. These new technologies don't require large boilers at all, instead they operate more like jet engines. Not only are they cheaper to maintain and operate, they can also be turned on and off more quickly depending on the demand from the grid. By the early 1970's four such generators were installed on the property opposite the fuel field. 

I visited the generating station for the first time in 2017. I had never seen photos from inside the building, but I knew a few others had been inside already. We were especially concerned about getting caught since trespassing on critical infrastructure is specifically criminalized in New Jersey. Fortunately we were able to slip inside the fencline where we found an open window almost immediately. One of the earlier groups took the plastic covers off the oldest units, leaving them accessible to photograph in great condition. Unfortunately I was far more interested in the explore than photography at the time, so most of my pictures are pretty bad. 

It was so amazing how little things had been disturbed inside the building. Differnt areas fell out of use at differnt times. The laboratory, for example, had hardly been rummaged through. 

The first stage of demolition in 2021 involved removing all the coal chutes at the front of the property. 

The second stage included full asbestos abatement and demolition of the turbine hall.

The boilerhouse was left standing for another year, but by the end of summer 2026 crews moved in to finish the job.

And thats it. Another incredible piece of our history reduced to rubble. 

Thanks for learning with me.