By Donald Wittkowski
In the 1980s, Sea Isle City’s student population was growing at such a rate that the Board of Education decided to expand the public school by adding three trailer-like modular units to the back of the building.
Now, those same trailers are a symbol of Sea Isle’s dying school system. When the school closed down in 2012 due, ironically, to declining student enrollment, the trailers became a weather-beaten eyesore.
As plans unfold for possibly converting the old school into a community recreation site, the city is finally going to demolish the blighted trailers. At its meeting Tuesday, City Council is expected to vote to advertise for demolition bids.
Dan Tumulo, Board of Education president, noted that the old trailers have been “ratty” at least since 2010. In that year, the board took over the school from the city and began considering ways to renovate it, including the possibility of tearing down the trailers.
“If we stayed there, we were going to knock them down,” Tumulo said.
The renovation project was never built, but the old school got a second life in late 2012 when it became a temporary City Hall after Hurricane Sandy pummeled the city. The police department and other municipal offices moved into the school following severe damage to the old City Hall.
When Sea Isle’s new City Hall opened in 2015, the old school became largely empty again. Discussions began then about possibly repurposing the building as a community recreation facility.
The school, built in 1971, occupies an entire block bordered by Park Road, Central Avenue, 45th Street and 46th Street.
Such a large chunk of property could prove to be very valuable for housing development. However, the school land is zoned for administrative and public use, which prohibits condominiums or other housing projects from being built there, according to Tumulo.
A community survey conducted by the city in 2015 asked the public for suggestions on what should be done with the school. The highest number of respondents, or 36 percent, proposed having the building redeveloped as a park or recreation site.
In January, City Council approved a $29,500 architectural contract to look at ways for transforming the school property into recreation. An architectural study will determine whether the existing school should be converted into a recreation center or whether a new building should be constructed. Adding an indoor community pool to the site will also be considered.
Demolishing the old trailers is considered a key first step in the school’s conversion into recreation. During the school’s active years, the trailers served as a library, office space, a teachers’ lounge and a handicapped bathroom, Tumulo said.
Although the building no longer functions as a school, it is not dead space. The gym is open to the public during the summer for basketball games and is also used as the location for the city’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration.
The Board of Education holds its public meetings in the school. In the winter, the city’s Recreation Department uses the school for office space. The school has also been designated as an emergency storm shelter.
