Goodbye Pittman Hotel

After 100 years the Pittman Hotel was demolished yesterday September 24th. It was opened as a tourist spot but fell in disrepair and neglect. As The Gloucester County Times reported back in December 2009

PITMAN The Hotel Pitman has closed its doors due to foreclosure and will go to sheriff's sale on Dec. 9.

"This is not something the town did," said Councilman Jeff Sanders. "The property has been owned by the same person for about 40 years and this was between him and the bank. This was entirely the bank's decision and the owner's decision to respond in this way."

Councilman Russ Johnson said the hotel located on Pitman Avenue had been up for sale for about 18 months and had been listed on Craigslist. He said the council saw a few presentations from interested buyers but none of them followed through. On Saturday, the place was padlocked and the tenants told to leave.

The 408 bus drove by it and we go to see it stand there. There was always a light on the small top floor and it reminded us on the bus of "mother" from

Cover of Psycho (Collector's Edition)

the move  Psycho. Where will she live now?  I wanted to go there yesterday morning but the weather was so nasty. The future of the lot will be according to a report from the The Gloucester County Times

Council President Russ Johnson said following demolition, the lot will be vacant until someone decides to buy it from Monroe Savings Bank, the property's current owners. Any potential developers must then come before the planning board because the property has been declared a redevelopment zone by the borough.
Council approved a redevelopment plan in April that would allow construction of either a senior apartment complex or four detached single-family homes.

I will miss looking at that building when I ride the 408 bus. They do not build places like that any longer.

Thursday

Good morning. I awake to the news that we will get a foot of snowby Saturday.
The video is of one of the several stops at Pittman NJ. This town is definitely more suburban then all the other towns that I see on the bus. I did hear they were able to keep most of not ALL low income housing out. Some come on the bus as if well-off commuters from Haddonfield or Collingswood.
I did miss the City Commission meeting but I am assuming that there was no decision made on the Motorsports Park's plans for a motocross track. I also think that no decision was forthcoming about the Millville Police dispatch being disbanded to save $$ and have ALL 911 calls being taken by the County.
The photo was taken this morning. Its pretty cold out. Lets hope the 408 Express shows up this morning. Yesterday, it did not show up at my stop at 2nd and Vine Streets.