A local landmark, or an eyesore?
For the past five years, The White House in Belmar was both — until a demolition crew arrived this week to tear down the old hotel at the corner of Ocean and Second avenues.
It took less than a day for an excavator from Greg Lertch Demolition to plow through the 34 rooms of wood, wire, and brick, as the curtain fell on the big hotel with the wrap-around porch.
A developer, Down to Earth Construction, recently received court approval to build six luxury townhouses, ending a four-year court battle that left The White House an empty and boarded-up eyesore.
“This is one of the last of the grand old houses,” said Rickey Stein, a trustee with the Belmar Historical Society. “Everyone who has been to Belmar knew that house, right smack there on Ocean Avenue. It’s heartbreaking to see it go.”
Located just off the Shark River Inlet, The White House was once a private Victorian-era mansion that opened as a hotel in 1931. For more than 80 years, The White House opened its doors to summer vacationers and weekend warriors who stayed for the wrap-around porch, cool breeze and ocean view.
Visitors came from near and far, and from all walks of life. The local newspaper, The Coast Star, reported that the noted psychologist from Fort Lee, Dr. Joyce Brothers, was a frequent guest. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards also stopped by in a limo one day around 2005, to pick up his nephew and take him to dinner, the newspaper reported.
“That building has a long and interesting history,” said Patricia O’Keefe, who was working at the Belmar Museum when the excavation crew arrived. She did not watch.
“It’s a little sad to see these historic buildings go,” she said. Although it was familiar to many, the building was not a designated landmark and was not protected.
Belmar once had many hotels, but most of those buildings have been torn down and replaced by private dwellings. Oceanfront real estate is so valuable that it’s more profitable to sell a building for a tear down than to keep fixing it.
“You have to have a ton of money to build on Ocean Avenue,” Stein said. He added the only hotel left on Ocean Avenue is the Mayfair at the corner of 10th Avenue.
The owner of The White House, Tom Wagner, sold the building after the Belmar zoning board approved a set of variances to allow construction of six luxury townhouses. A lawsuit followed, filed by two adjacent property owners, Joseph Puleo and Rita Puleo, and Joel Russell, who challenged the zoning board’s approval process.
The White House sat boarded up for five summers while the lawsuit crawled through the courts, an omnipresent eyesore at the entrance to Belmar, just south of the Shark River bridge. Finally, last month, an appellate court upheld the original lower court ruling that allowed the project to go forward, giving Down to Earth Construction the green light to demolish The White House.
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Richard Cowen may be reached at [email protected].
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