Woodbridge State School

The middle part of the 20th century was tough on the mental health care landscape of New Jersey. The existing hospitals and state schools were bursting at the seams and constantly expanding. 

Source

It was determined that a new State School was needed in the northern part of the state to alleviate overcrowding at other nearby facilities

Construction began in 1963 for the new Woodbridge State School. The new buildings were to be built on 68 acres of farmland near the East Jersey State Prison in Avanel. By 1965 the facility was open and accepting new residents.

The buildings themselves were an architecturally unremarkable cluster of hexagon shaped dormitories. The infirmary building was slightly different. It was asymmetrical with 3 sides longer than the other. The building also had a nice central courtyard which allowed natural light to fill the entire structure. 

Woodbridge operated without much notoriety throughout the years. In my research I couldn't find much about the day to day operations of the center. There were never any major new construction projects or improvements. At some point in the 1970s the facility changed its name from Woodbridge State School to Woodbridge Developmental Center. I imagine this was done as a result of the 1972 release of Giraldo Rivera's exposé on the horrid conditions of the Willowbrook State School. Willowbrook was on Staten Island, just a few miles away from Woodbridge.

A 2012 report recommended closing the facility as well as the North Jersey Developmental Center over the course of the next 5 years. This created outrage with the employees, the nurses unions and the families of the residents. They were all again horrified when then- governor Chris Christie announced that the plan was going to be accelerated. All residents were to be relocated within the next two years.

A Courier Post article from June of 2014 describes the chaos families were thrown into trying to make arrangements for their family members. It was bad enough that the facility was closing in a few months. The North Jersey Developmental Center closing first just added insult to injury. This created a huge void in local beds for the displaced residents of WDC.

Despite the outrage the center finally closed on December 11th, 2014. Roughly 150 patients were moved and over 600 employees were laid off. The displaced residents were moved down to either the Vineland or Woodbine Developmental Center down in the Pinelands. The two closer facilities were already at capacity, likely due to the June closure of NJDC. 

The campus sat dormant for several years before the wheels started to move on redevelopment. 54 acres of land was purchased by the town of Avanel in 2018 for $5 Million. That was about 80% of the parcel's total square footage. Shortly afterwards Morris Industrial won the bid to redevelop the property. They announced plans for a large warehouse and distribution center on the grounds and a neighboring parcel, with all existing structures being demolished.

Demolition took place in two stages. The western half of the campus was wiped out in 2020. It took another two years for the work to completely wrap up at the east side of the facility. 

It probably won't be too long before lots of folks have forgotten about the center. It was so hidden from view and operated so quietly that I imagine a good amount of people in town never even knew it was there in the first place. I'm very glad I was able to document what I did of the grounds and buildings so those who seek out the story of the Woodbridge State School can see and read about what once was.