By Kathy Arlt, Contributing Writer @Blogfinger
This was the headline in the March 11, 1938 issue of The Ocean Grove Times:
The hotel was closed at the time, and all the utilities had been cut off, so a cause for the fire could not be determined. Unlike the 1925 fire, this fire struck at the very heart of the North End Hotel complex, and much of the original 1912 building was destroyed. After the fire, many rumors circulated claiming that the hotel wouldn’t be rebuilt. But, as we all know, it was rebuilt…and guests continued to check in until 1976. Then the hotel was closed for good, and plans were made for a new complex at the North End: a “life care” facility for senior citizens called “Aldersgate.”
And so, in 1978, the North End Hotel was demolished.
And what happened to Aldersgate? Well, the planned 272 studio and one-bedroom unit complex was never built. There just wasn’t enough interest from the senior citizen community to support construction.
Fire, neglect, and storm are what happened: big fab structures on the south side of Ocean Pathway from Ocean Ave westward went up in a spectacular wind driven fire; the Queen on the north side corner was blown down during a nor’easter; big hotels at Main and Beach were lost to fire; The Sampler right next to those fell into such disrepair that Neptune Twp. demolished it; more recently the the North End garage and two hotels in northern Ocean Grove burned down suspiciously… .. and so it goes.
Neglect by the owners seems to be the “common thread” resulting in ultimate loss. The recent emphasis on identifying derelict buildings and taking action before tragedy striikes is the best hope we have to save our remaining “fab structures”.
I love these “then and now” articles about a town I also love. As someone who has only lived in the area seven years, I was curious about what happened to that area as well as some of the other fab structures in town. Cheers!
Then there was a fire at that site in the summer of what might have been 2007 or 8. That clearly finished off whatever remnants were left. A couple of homes on Spray Ave. were damaged from cinders and heat at that time. As a matter of fact, one of those houses is finally being refurbished. So all that remains now is the old swimming pool “hole.”