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A piece of
town hall
Step right up and
buy a piece of the old town hall!
On May 10 at 10 a.m. (registration is at 9
a.m.) an auction will be held at the town
hall at Central Avenue and Vine Street.
There will be a number of police and
confiscated vehicles auctioned, but the real
stars of this show will be the desks, file
cabinets, chairs and other items from the
current Hammonton Town Hall, which is
closing April 30.
Who wouldn’t want a piece of grade-A
“Hammontoncana” from the building? The place
will soon be a parking lot and a memory
after sitting on the spot for decades.
What’s “Hammontoncana”? It’s like
“Americana” – those collectables that are
associated with American history.
“Hammontoncana” is anything that has to do
with Hammonton’s history – from a
promotional ashtray, to old postcards, to
the mayor’s/judge’s chair from the old town
hall.
That chair should be available for purchase
during the auction, by the way. Wouldn’t it
look great in your home or office? When
people came in, you could say you have the
mayor’s chair – a chair that has seen a lot
of history in recent years.
Think of all the little details in the old
town hall – signs, council benches, the
council table, and a number of little pieces
of town history that will be available.
We are sure the bidding wars that will erupt
between “Hammontoncana” collectors will be
fierce on May 10. It should be a show in
itself to watch people go back and forth for
a scrap of local history. Things won’t get
too far out of hand, though.
After all, the police will be there.
For its part, The Gazette may have its eye
on a piece or two of memorabilia. After all,
we did weigh in once or twice on the town
hall issue in the past.
As for what “Hammontoncana” we might want
from the town hall, well, we’re not telling.
What if we’re outbid? See you at the auction
on May 10.
On April 28, 2008 the final
council meeting was held in the current
Hammonton Town Hall.
The next council meeting is scheduled for
May 19, 2008. If all goes according to plan,
that meeting will be held in the new town
hall, located about 30 feet or so behind the
current building. It’s even remotely
possible that by the time another regular
council meeting is held, the old town hall
will be in the process of being demolished.
Things are moving pretty fast these days.
The town hall and its predecessor have
become symbols of the next era arriving and
the old era ending. It’s rare to have a
period like the next two months, where a
council meeting will be held, the move of
local government into the new town hall will
occur, a special meeting will be held in the
new town hall, a regular meeting will be
held in the new town hall and the demolition
of the former town hall will begin.
It will seem like a switch has been flicked,
and everything changed.
We all know it wasn’t that easy. Not that
easy at all.
Everyone who was involved in bringing a new
town hall at Central Avenue and Vine Street
to fruition should take immense pride in
what is happening. Mayor John DiDonato and
the Hammonton First-led administration are
doing what they said they would do.
History has been made, and is about to be
made in the next two months at Central
Avenue and Vine Street. All Hammontonians
will have a front-row seat to watch that
history happen.
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