Westmont Theater

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The Westmont Theater opened in 1927 with 1,600 seats. The building was designed by architect William Wrifford, whose firm is credited with designing a few other south Jersey structures.

The theater showed silent films alongside what some say was the largest organ in New Jersey at the time. A short 14 years later, the Warner Brothers corporation bought out the theater and closed it. 

It wasn't until 1948 that the theater was renovated into a 1200 seat movie house. Prominant Philadelphia area architect William Harold Lee was tasked with modernizing the theater. Lee designed and remodeled over 100 theaters over the years, many of which were in southern New Jersey. 

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Four years later, Steven Speilburg would attend "the Greatest Show On Earth" at the theater. Spielberg himself has cited that movie as part of what inspired him to become a director. 

The building was twinned  in 1978, and lasted until 1986 before closing once again. A group moved into the theater in 1990, performing live shows for almost a decade until the town bought the theater in 1999 and closed it. 

I stopped to take some photos of the long abandoned theater building back in 2014. I had just picked up some food nearby and I didn't have my proper camera with me. I walked along the side of the building and found one of the large fire doors slightly ajar. With only my cell phone for light and photos, I popped inside and took a quick walk around. 

A few years passed and I happened upon a news article about the theater. Work had begun in 2016 to convert the theater into a Planet Fitness location. The entire structure was gutted including the sloped auditorium flooring. Despite that, the beautiful facade of the theater was painstakingly restored. Even the marquis was tenderly revived, glowing 24 hours a day since the gym rarely closes. 

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This is a perfect example of what can be done with a blighted historic building , even in an advanced state of decay. The interior of the building was a complete loss, it would have been very easy for the developers to claim hardship and have the building demolished. Instead the building can continue to serve the community for years to come.

The Port Reading McMyler Coal Dumper

Port Reading is a small unincorporated community in Middlesex County. Though technically part of Woodbridge, Port Reading was given the name as it was founded expressly for the needs of the the Reading Railroad. The port was tied to the main Reading artery by a line called the Port Reading Railroad which opened in 1892. Several unique historical features distinguish the region from the rest of Woodbridge. One such piece of history is the McMyler Coal Dumper, one of the most impressive industrial advances of the time.

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The McMyler Coal Dumper was invented in 1917 by the McMyler Interstate Company of Bedford, Ohio. The system relied on a combination of gravity, heavy machinery, and manpower. Full coal cars would ride up the track and come to a full stop. A "pig block" would catch the car underneath and bring it up a ramp.The McMyler would use a system of cables and platforms to lift and turn the car on its side to dump the contents into an metal arm which extended over a barge in the water below. Men on the barge would then work to distribute the coal evenly to prevent the water vessel from flipping. When the car was empty it was turned back over, where if successful it would leave the Dumper, ascend a steep grade, switch tracks, and leave on an exit track. With everything running smoothly the dumper could unload a full car every two and a half minutes. This complicated system can be seen in this video, filmed by a rail fan who built his own model McMyler.

One such dumper was erected in Port Reading the same year, making it one of the first put into service. The region had a huge demand for coal, as that was the most widely used fuel for generating stations and industrial facilities throughout the northeast. McMyler dumpers popped up in South Amboy, Perth Amboy, and Jersey City, shuffling tons of Appalachian coal from train to barge for decades.

In 1951 a large fire damaged the Port Reading McMyler. The machinery was pulled from the water, and rebuilt using the salvaged remains of one of the many other dumpers in the region. The newly rebuilt Port Reading McMyler continued to churn out coal until 1982. Coal had been falling out of favor due to its inefficiency and the toll it took on the environment. As power generation got more advanced, the massive old coal dumpers were rendered useless.

The site was listed by Preservation New Jersey as one of the top ten endangered historic sites in the state in 2004. Despite this the property was still abandoned, and nothing was done to stabilize the dumper. When hurricane Irene hit in 2011 she caused significant further damage. The cables holding the coal chute failed, and the entire arm fell into the river. A few years later the property was sold to a redevelopment company. They built a parking lot over the former dumpers spur, forever bisecting the McMyler from the rest of the Port Reading line, now owned by Conrail. The company that bought the land has kept an open mind towards the preservation of this crumbling piece of history. Unfortunately, given the condition it's in, its only a matter of time before it ones again sinks into the river again as it did in 1951. The next time it happens there will certainly be no rebuilding it. The Port Reading McMyler is the last of its kind anywhere in the region, and one of only a handful left anywhere in the world. If you want to go take a look, the time to visit is now.

MIller Street School

The city of Newark was booming at the turn of the century. The population increased 40% in the first decade of the 1900s. With this came a need for more public school buildings. The buildings that the city had been using in the late 1800's were small brick structures, and their floor plans were poorly designed. Instead of throwing up cheap utilitarian structures to replace these aging buildings, the city invested heavily in their new schools. Miller Street School originally opened in 1881, with additions made in 1887 and 1900. The old building was a prime candidate for replacement

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The firm of Guilbert & Betelle were the architects contracted to annex the old Miller Street School. The name should ring a bell, as Ernest Guilbert was responsible for designing the Morton Street School I wrote about recently. The new Miller Street School opened in 1912.

The structure was just over 43,500 square feet, and stood right next to the old brick school house. The main draw of the new building was a large auditorium that had a balcony level and beautiful plaster accents.

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In 1961 an additional 35651 square feet was added onto the structure. Included in this space was a new entrance at Frelinghuysen Avenue & Vanderpool Street. Right behind the doors was the entrance to the cafeteria. The old schoolhouse was demolished in the 1980's, leaving an empty lot between the remaining school buildings and the neighboring houses.

Citing a number of reasons, the Newark Public Schools commission shut down a dozen different schools between 2011 and 2015. The Miller Street School was among those closed in 2012. A structural evaluation report the following year deemed the school building to be in fair condition, but recommended for demolition due to its location and age.

The structure sat vacant for five years but was eventually sold to the Claremont Properties Group and renovated into apartments. Work began in 2019 and by the following year the school had been reborn. It's nice to be able to wrap up one of my posts with a happy ending for a change.

Krueger-Scott Mansion

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I remember when I first rode past the old Krueger Scott mansion as a young passenger in my father's car. I was fascinated by the long abandoned structure that had all the classic "haunted house" features. I was fascinated by the mansion, and I hadn't even yet discovered the long and interesting story of how it got there.

Constructed wrapped up on the gorgeous dwelling on 1889. The home was designed in a Queen Anne Victorian style by Henry Schultz, who was also designing the Kastner mansion at the same time. The new mansion at the corner of Court and High street was built for Gottfried Krueger, a German immigrant and beer magnate. Krueger came to America at the age of 15 and got to work at his uncles brewery. After familiarizing himself with the trade Krueger started his own brewery which would catapult him to success. His company is most notable for being the first to market beer inside cans.

Krueger's mansion was the largest home in Newark at the time it was completed. In addition, its location on High street was regarded as the most desirable residential area in the city. Despite the large, castle like abode Krueger was regarded as a generous man and philanthropist, a theme that would be common with the occupants of the mansion. In 1926 the Kruegers left Newark, and sold the mansion to the local Scottish Rite chapter of the Freemasons. Three years later city architects Guilbert & Betelle were called in to design a new 700 seat auditorium on the vacant land between the mansion and the old stables out back. Guilbert & Betelle should be familiar names to readers of this blog as they designed the cities greatest schools, each of which also boasted gorgeous auditoriums. One such example is the Morton Street School right down Court Street.

The mansion was once again sold in 1959, this time to one of of the most influential women in the history of the city. Louise Scott spent $85000 on the deed to the property. Rumor has it the sum was paid on the spot in cash. Ms. Scott moved to newark from South Carolina in 1938. She worked as a domestic during the day while going to beauty school at night. A tireless entrepreneur, it wasn't long before Scott owned an entire chain of beauty salons in the city. It is said that Louise Scott was Newarks first female millionaire. After purchasing the property she turned the mansion into the Scott College of Beauty Culture, where she tought young women the trade that made her wealthy.

Over the years the mansion became the Scott Cultural and Civic Center. The mansion was being used for a number of things, including a dentists office and daycare center, while still containing a beauty salon run by graduates of the Scott College of Beauty Culture. Even as Newark experienced a severe economic downturn the mansion was still a beacon of culture and success in the community. The late 1960s brought a lot of change to the area around the mansion. A tall apartment building was erected on the next block over, dwarfing the beautiful Victorian treasure and casting a shadow over it. Ms. Scott saw that the mansions future was uncertain, so she got the home listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. This was a critical move in assuring the mansion would stick around, even after she passed.

Louise Scott passed away in 1982, and the city of Newark assumed ownership of the mansion. As is often the case with historic properties under the stewardship of the city it was promptly abandoned. Looters worked their way inside and stripped out everything they could, leaving the Majestic home a barren shell. A handful of people banded together to try and save what remained. In 1991 the New Jersey Historic Trust spent more than $625,000 to stabilize the exterior of the mansion, which was matched by the city. Over the next few years Newark went on to spend $4 million to convert the home into a community center focused on the contribution of black citizens to the growth of the city. The federal government kicked in $1.5 million as well. However after 7 years of work the funding ran out, and the house was once again left to ruin. Very little has changed since then, aside from the auditorium and stables being demolished in the early 2000's. The mansion did manage to make it's way into pop culture though, appearing as a main location for the animated adult swim series "Venture Bros".

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In 2011 the site was listed by Preservation NJ on their annual list of endangered historic structures. A large barbed wire fence was put up around the property, which by this point was overgrown and covered in debris.

In 2017 plans to develop property with residential and commercial space were announced. The new development, dubbed "makerhoods", is planning full restoration of mansion. Tax breaks were approved for the project in 2019, and since then some minor work has been done.

No specific plans have been announced for the mansion yet, as far as what it will be used for. My hope is that the original plan to turn it into a community center comes through. Only time will tell.

Essex Generating Station

The Esssex Generating Station opened in 1915. Built for the city based Public Service company, the structure popped up along conrail's Passaic and Harsimus line. No architect is specifically credited for the building, but the gorgeous structure is almost certainly a work of the legendary Paul Phillipe Cret, who worked on many PSEG projects throughout the years.

Four low pressure Babcock & Wilcox coal fed stoker boilers belched out steam to power two General Electric turbines when the building first came online. The following year four more low pressure boilers were added. Four additional low pressure boilers and third turbine were added in 1919, and in 1924 eight more boilers and three new turbines brought the total to 20 boilers and 6 turbine units. The completed station was the largest in the state, stealing the title away from the Merrion Generating Station in Jersey City which was also designed by Cret.

Up until now the power generated by the plant was supplied directly to the consumer. That changed in 1925 when additional switching equipment was added, and the station became a "key feeder point" into the existing high powered grid. The purpose of switching equipment is to take the high voltage power being generated and convert it to a more suitable output for household use. Having all of the companies generating stations tied into the same grid allowed the company to more accurately determine the necessary output required by each plant, while also allowing uninterrupted service in the event of an equipment failure.

By 1933 oil burners had been added to several boilers at the facility. They previously operated by burning coal exclusively. Three years later a huge fire decimated the switch house, requiring a major reconstruction. The process would take years to complete. Eight low pressure boilers were removed in 1937, and were replaced by two high pressure units. The new equipment was the first at the facility built with the ability to burn oil in addition to coal. An advanced new turbine was installed as well, which used exhaust steam to power one of the older units. Its one of the earliest examples of a combined cycle system I've across in my years of power plant research. By 1940 the electrical switching network overhaul was finished, bringing the plant totally back on line.

In 1946 four more low pressure boilers and the original "Unit No.1" were retired. The following year a new 1000,00 kW turbine took its place. In addition another high pressure boiler was installed, which could burn coal, oil, Or natural gas. Additional switching equipment was added at this time, and would continue to be upgraded over the next four decades. Three years after the prior equipment upgrade all the remaining coal boilers were converted to operate on oil. By 1955 eight of them were out of service. In the early 1960s generating technology was changing. Large, hulking boiler based structures were being phased out in favor of sleek standalone gas turbines which operate like a jet engine as opposed to a steam engine. 1963 saw the construction of several of these self contained peaker turbines on the property outside the building. Eight years later they built 3 more, and another in 1972. The last of the low pressure boilers were taken offline a few years later, limiting the plant building to the three high pressure boilers and the exterior units.

The 1970's brought a growing collective conscious towards environmental responsibility. In 1973 two separate EPA investigations were conducted with regards to the plant. The first was the result of roofers tossing empty buckets of roof tar into the river. The second was the result of a small self reported oil spill that was promptly addressed by the company. Unfortunately this was just the beginning. A letter from the Passaic Valley Sewer commission dated January 21st, 1976 goes into great detail about witnessing EGS employees committing blatant EPA violations on several occasions. Oily discharge was supposed to be collected in a tanker and brought to a facility in Irvington to be dealt with. However PSEG employees were seen pumping water contaminated with kerosene from manholes onto roadways and in one case directly into a tributary of the Passaic River. While that practice seemed to have ceased after the repeated complaints, Pseg continued to let thousands of gallons of kerosene seep into the river from a the same broken underground pipe. Oil sheens were being reported and investigated, but a source could not be located. The leak eventually got so bad that it left a noticable trail right back to the station.

All the steam turbines inside the building were retired by 1978, after the new compact turbines elsewhere in the yard rendered the old units useless. By 1990 another new peaker unit added to the property, this time replacing #8 which was had been retired for a decade by that point. The following year The US Coast Guard penned a letter to the plant management stating that there was a noticeable sheen of oil across the Passaic River near the plant. An inspection revealed that the piece of shoreline owned by PSEG was heavily contaminated and a leaking kerosene pipeline was the cause of the sheening. The state police marine unit took on the investigation, eventually issuing a summons to PSEG. Likely in an attempt to remedy the kerosene leak, the massive turbine hall behind the switchhouse was demolished, leaving a bare patch of land three times the size of the remaining building. The switch house continued to operate as it was heavily tied into the grid. It wouldnt be long before inspectors were back on the property asking to access the shoreline. In 1997 during the cleanup of the former Diamond Alkali site, a six mile section of the Passaic River was being studied by the EPA. It was revealed that the generating station property was a significant contributor to the pollution of the river. However, since light remediation efforts had already been taken, the agency declined to charge the company for fear it would interrupt the work being done.
The case was still being investigated in 2003 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contacted PSEG as a result of the findings. The letter listed all the other companies who contributed to the contamination and asks them all to become a "Cooperating Party" to the Lower Passaic River Project, which sought to help reverse the damage with the financial help of those responsible.

I first visited the plant several years ago. I was astonished at how well kept the switch building appeared to be. The structure wasn't abandoned abruptly like most of the places I visit. Instead the building simply fell out of practical use as advances in grid management rendered it obsolete. Several graffiti artists had snuck inside by this point, but they didn't mess with most of the interior. Unfortunately, a year or more after my first visit the place was run through by instagram tourists whose disruptive presence decimated the peaceful atmosphere. Thankfully I had already documented the best parts. The building continues to sit abandoned, however the property around it is very active to this day. Trespassing on power plant property is not taken lightly in this state, so I would recommend against attempting to visit the old switch house. If caught you will most certainly be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Village Hall

Downtown South Orange is one of the last places one would expect to find a large vacant building. Despite this I kept driving past the old Village Hall and noticed it was falling into disrepair. One day I decided to park and investigate.

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The gorgeous tudor building with its looming clock tower and German half timber styling is arguably the most iconic structure in the bustling downtown. 

It was designed by E. K. Rossiter, who was best known for his work designing homes for the wealthy. The building originally functioned as offices and a courthouse. It opened in 1894, 25 years after the township was incorporated. 

In 1975 the building was added to the NJ Register of Historic Places. A year later it made it to the National Register. It seems that the space was vacated around 2010, when a federal grant was issued to restore the building. Work stopped after the interior was almost entirely gutted, and the structure stayed that way for nearly a decade. 

Work finally began again in 2019 to restore the building and open a restaurant inside. The restoration is full swing, and the restaurant is expected to open later this year. 

St Michaels Hospital

The story of St Michael's Medical Center is one of the longest of all the Newark care facilities, going all the way back to 1868. At the time a rented space on Bleecker Street was being used for a hospital.  Land was purchased and a small, simple building with a chapel on Central Avenue was erected and opened in 1871.

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There was also a home on the property which was used as a temporary hospital, which is a common theme with most of the general hospitals in the region. Rumors say one of the first times Black and White folks ever marched together was during a dedication ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone for the building.

The Franciscan order who commissioned the hospital had the idea that the city would help sustain the facility. At the time the city of Newark desperately needed medical care facilities. Unfortunately the city had no interest in taking on any expense. After they decided not to be involved, local Catholics were asked to donate money to help keep the hospital operating and expanding. Donors were promised a bed in the hospital if ever necessary. The hospital advertised "130 beds open to all, without distinction of race or color" in the 1874 Newark City Directory. The need for more hospital space was increasing, so the hospital underwent a large expansion project in 1888. Renowned local architect Jeremiah O'Rourke was tasked with designing the new wing, as he was the chief architect for the Archdioece of Newark at the time. O'Rourke is better known for designing the Basillica of the Sacred Heart, but he can also be found on this blog for his work on Jersey City's St Lucy's Church.

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The new building absorbed the original structure somewhat seamlessly. Pressed tin was thrown up throughout the halls. This covered the original skylights that once lit the halls of the structure. An emergency exit was added onto the right side of the original building, capped with a peak giving the impression of a tower. Most importantly, a large chapel was incorporated into the new design. The space featured a vaulted ceiling with tight ribbing and plaster ornamentation.

The corners of the ribs were decorated with colorful stenciling. The relatively small room had the grandeur of a much larger worship space, a true testament to the skill of Jeremiah O'Rourke.

In addition to being beautiful the hospital was also developing quite a reputation by the turn of the century. The hospital claims to be the site of the first open heart surgery in the state. They also take credit for instituting the first cardiac catheter program.

The hospital wouldn't continue to grow so handsomely, however. Over the years the hospital became a mash up of different architectural styles. The mansard roof over the original structure was removed, and an extra floor was added to the structure. An art deco wing was added to the left of the O'Rourke building at some point in the 30's or 40's. By 1960 modern buildings were popping up on the property, drawing away from the beauty of the O'Rourke building. After the rebellion of 1968 property values in Newark dropped significantly, and the hospital capitalized on this by purchasing a large portion of property on the block behind the complex. Many homes were demolished, and In 1969 the most disruptive construction to date began.

A large new white building sprouted up behind the original buildings. The hospital now resembled a short T. By this point it was impossible to tell that the property used to be 2 separate blocks. A few decades later the most modern section of the hospital was built. It was around this time that hospital operations moved out of the oldest buildings on the property. The hospital chapel was deconsecrated, and the buildings were left to rot. The hospital slowly began to decline, and was shuffled around quite a bit. In 2008 Cathedral Health Services sold the building to Catholic Health East. Two years later plans were unveiled to transform the campus with a massive redevelopment, but those plans never came to fruition.

I first tried to get inside the hospital as a teenager back in 2012. I ducked into the basement with the hope that I could find a stairwell that would bring me into the now abandoned portion. My goals were dashed as a large security guard caught me almost immediately and escorted me out of the hospital. I was disappointed, but at the time the interior of the hospital was sheathed in drywall and drop ceiling so I didn't think I was missing much. I nearly forgot about the hospital until they announced that they were filing for bankruptcy protection. The hospital was then sold to Prime Healthcare, who took control of the hospital in 2016.

I tried several more times to get inside during and after the sale, finally finding a way inside shortly after the complex changed hands. I was pleased to find that the inside had been partially gutted. The ugly modernization work had been stripped away, revealing the expert craftmanship of the 1800s carpenters. The buildings had tall pressed tin ceilings and lancet doorways.

I spent the next several years visiting the hospital regularly with friends. Very few people had discovered the entrance, so my friends and I mostly had the place to ourselves. Unfortunately by late 2017 the hospital fell victim to Instagram popularity. The urban tourist crowd came through and began to destroy the building. Thankfully it didn't last too long, as redevelopment plans were approved the following year. By 2019 renovation was in full swing, and the former hospital was well on it's way to a mixed use conversion. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2020.