Time called on torched school that has lain empty for two decades.
The “haunted” former Lambertville High School has a date with the wrecking ball. Officials hope it happens soon; Halloween is just weeks away and the elements have taken their toll. It’s dangerous and they want the building demolished before someone trespassing in search of ghosts is really hurt.
City construction officials Ken Rogers issued the latest in a string of demolition orders a year ago, almost 20 years after then-construction official Gene Venettone had issued a notice of imminent hazard, ordering owner Merrick Wilson to demolish or repair the building.
Progress has been made over the past year and officials think a long-awaited demolition is impending. Rogers said on Oct. 1 that pressure is being put on Wilson by the courts — a $4,000 fine is accruing each week until the building is removed.
Built in 1854, the stately brick school housed elementary and high school students from as far south as Ewing Township and as far north as Milford. The last high school class graduated there in 1959, replaced by South Hunterdon Regional High School in neighboring West Amwell Township.
It was vacant by the time an arsonist torched the building in 1992, a fire that devastated what had been a structurally sound building.
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