Efforts Surface To Save Iconic Camden High School From Demolition
CAMDEN, NJ (CBS) -- New Jersey and Camden city officials unveiled plans recently to replace the century old Camden High School. But there are now efforts to preserve the "Castle on the Hill" or at least a part of it.
A Facebook page dedicated to saving the structure has a thousand people signed up and there's a GoFundMe effort to pay for a possible legal challenge to the plan.
The Camden County Historical Society is, ironically, just down the street from Camden High.
President Jack O'Byrne would prefer the building not be demolished.
"We support saving the building, but if that is not possible we would like to help preserve the legacy of Camden High School not just as a historical building but also for the students and alumni of Camden High," O'Byrne told KYW Newsradio.
Plan 'b' would take parts of the building and move them to a structural garden at society headquarters just down the street.
Preliminary plans for a new, larger structure include recreating parts of the old building, including a tower in the front of the current building. Decision makers say rehabbing the current facility would cost too much and a new, larger facility would better serve students.
The Camden School District is now in the process of approving construction plans as well as finding places for some 700 students now attending Camden High. Construction would take four years and any demolition is at least a year away.