The Old Atlantic City High School Was ‘Better’ Than The New One
HARRY HURLEY OPINION - EDITORIAL
We compare the old Atlantic City, New Jersey High School, located on Albany Avenue versus the newer Atlantic City High School, located on US Route 40.
For purposes of this article, I’m comparing the 3rd Atlantic City High School with today’s 4th Atlantic City High School.
The first Atlantic City High School was built in 1895 at Illinois and Arctic Avenues. It was too small to properly serve Atlantic City and sending district students.
In 1901, the high school relocated to a building at Ohio and Pacific Avenues. This building became Central Junior High School when the new high school was built on Albany Avenue … this coveted space is now part of the Stockton University Atlantic City campus.
Here is a look at the 2nd high school:
After the high school relocated to its new Albany Avenue location, the old school became Central Junior High School.
Construction at Albany and Atlantic Avenues began in 1920 and the new Atlantic City High School opened on September 17, 1923.
Here it is:
From a bricks and mortar standpoint, there is no comparison. The newest high school has it all. In addition to the the sprawling, self-contained new high school has so many physical advantages over the old high school.
Yet, I will take the old high school over the new high school any day.
We had to take a pretty good walk over the Albany Avenue (now Peter Egnor) Bridge for track, football, crew, baseball, softball and tennis to what was formerly known as Bader Field.
The track was a slower cinder surface. We had to fit our running shoes with long spikes, in order to get some level of traction around the 440-yard oval.
The football field surface at Bader Field was nothing to write home about!
Now, they have a gorgeous all weather track … which surrounds the beautiful, perfect football field.
The old high school boys gym (the basketball court) was barely big to play a legal game. There was almost no room from tte end line to a padded wall that players and game officials would regularly crash into.
The girls gym had a hard rubber surface that was a breeding ground for shin splints and other injuries.
Here is the incredible footprint of the new high school:
There is no comparison. The new facilities are superior in every way.
We had something at the old high school (on Albany Avenue).
We had school spirit. We had to make things work with what we had. We never considered it a burden, or, that we were getting short changed in any way.
I would not trade my four years at Atlantic City High School for anything.
It wasn’t about the bricks and mortar. We had great mentors:
John Boyd, George Dennis, Frank Campo, Ben Castor, Robin Williams, Wayne Dennis, Gail Marrandino … great mentors like this. There were many more.
This made our school facilities irrelevant.
It proves that life is all about surrounding yourself with good people.
It’s not about bigger, fancier, better stadiums and other physical facilities.
In these most crucial formative years … when you grow from child to adult … it’s your teachers, coaches and other role models that helped to mold us into the next generation of adults and community leaders.
I feel like I hit the lottery in the game of life in this regard.
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