The New Jersey Memory Palace Troppoli GSL27

The New Jersey Memory Palace Donna Troppoli | www.GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 27 March 2015

The southern entrance to the Grand Arcadewelcomes visitors. The famed Convention Hall is tothe right, and the Paramount Theater is to the left,Image uploaded to Wikipedia by Alexisrael. All Wikipedia images used here under CreativeCommons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Is there a building in New Jerseywhich contains more of the cultural and social history ofAmerica since the onset of the Great Depression thanAsbury Park’s Convention Hall? Listed in both the NewJersey and National Register of Historic Places andlocated on the boardwalk between Fifth and SunsetAvenues, Convention Hall is the eastern most structure ofa complex which also includes the Grand Arcade (theindoor connection of the northern and southern ends of thecity’s boardwalk) and the Paramount Theater. Although allthree structures were built concurrently and each has itsown engaging tales to tell, this article will focus onConvention Hall.

The story of Convention Hall begins in 1916, whenClarence Hetrick, the newly elected mayor, wanted amodern structure that would encourage visitors to frequentthe summer resort throughout the year. These desiredguests would include thousands of people involved inbusiness, manufacturing, and the professions who requiredlarge venues to hold their tradeshows and conventions. TheNational Education Association had held its annualconvention in Asbury Park during the summer of 1905. Thecity’s business community wanted to develop and expandthis type of tourism.

Mayor Hetrick hired the renowned architects McKim,Mead, and White—who had also designed such landmarksas New York City’s Washington Square Arch and theColumbia University campus—to design a conventioncenter on the site of the Asbury Park Auditorium, which hadoriginally been built by Mayor James Bradley in June 1892.Bradley would not sell the property, and Hetrick missed hischance to develop the site when Arthur Steinbach boughtthe parcel from Mayor Bradley’s estate. It is now occupied


The National EducationalAssociation held its annualconvention at Asbury Park in1905 and inspired businessleaders to see the potential ofattracting such events.President Theodore Rooseveltwas scheduled to address thegroup.

Trenton Evening TimesJune 4, 1905

www.genealogybank.com

by the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel (formerly the Berkeley-Carteret).

Goaded by the then-recent plans for New York’sMadison Square Garden, and Convention Hall in AtlanticCity—and enabled by two boardwalk fires in 1927—Hetrickseized his chance. A city bond referendum was passed tofinance the new civic center, which would be designed byanother New York based team, Warren and Wetmore,whose commissions included Grand Central Terminal,Steinway Hall, and several projects for the Vanderbiltfamily. The Convention Hall, Paramount Theater, and GrandArcade complex was expected to cost $2-million toconstruct. Despite Mayor Hetrick’s good intentions, theproject was compromised from the start by poor planningand a worsening economic climate.

Convention Hall, a brick and masonry structure whichcontains 60,000 square feet of space was built to extended215-feet beyond the boardwalk on a foundation of steel


Southeast side of ConventionHall as seen from the AtlanticOcean.

www.wikipedia.comUploaded by Wikijazz

encased wooden pilings. The north and south sides wereflanked by open porticos having commanding views of thebeaches. Its ornate, copper panels and glazed ceramicplaques with a sea shell motif imparted a whimsical,marine look to the structure. The interior contained bankedarena-like seating for 1,800 and a large open floor forexhibition, additional seating (for up to an additional 1,700,for a total seating capacity of 3,500), dancing or sportingevents. There was a permanent stage and a Kilgen theaterorgan, custom built in St. Louis.

Despite these grand appointments, importantdeficiencies compromised Convention Hall’s utility fromthe start. There were no loading docks, and an on-siteheating plant for the complex was not included in itsdesign. This was a crucial element needed to enable itsyear-round use but was neglected although a heating plantmight have still been built nearby (a quirk of Asbury Park’socean front is the city sewer plant is located just off of thebeachfront at the eastern end of Eighth Avenue). Whatresulted was the construction of an additional complex atthe southern terminus of the boardwalk, also designed byWarren and Wetmore. This second complex would also bea triad of structures that included the Casino (here, a largemulti-purpose building that could function as a dance hall,exhibition space or skating rink), a carousel house, and theheating plant. This extravagant addition ended up doublingthe cost to the city; the final cost for both complexes wouldbe $4.5-million. By then, with the onset of the GreatDepression, it was a debt Asbury Park could ill-afford.

THE MORRO CASTLEConvention Hall’s inaugural event was the Friars Club

Convention, held on July 5, 1930. Mayor Hetrick remained


Despite thesegrand

appointments,important

deficienciescompromised

ConventionHall’s utility

from the start.

optimistic that visitors would come simply to enjoy the newadditions to the city’s oceanfront, and was convinced thatthe boardwalk concessions and venues would bring in$20,000.00 in annual rents. This was not to be. Thedeteriorating economic situation kept the hoped-for crowdsaway. Ultimately, the new Paramount Theater had to beclosed during the winter months. The nature of Americantourism was also becoming more sophisticated. Thosewho could still afford to travel were likely to journey towarmer, more exotic climes in an airplane or enjoy avacation cruise aboard an ocean liner.

Ironically, it was just such a cruise ship that caused an

The tragedy of the burning ofthe SS Morro Castle had theironic consequence of revivingAsbury Park as a touristdestination.New York Maritime Industry Museum at

Fort Schyler, donated by C.V. Norris


explosion in Asbury Park tourism, if only for a short while.The Morro Castle, returning from a one week pleasure cruiseto Havana, caught fire off the coast of southern MonmouthCounty and eventually beached just north of ConventionHall. This gruesome event began on Saturday, September8, 1934 at about 3:00 A.M., when a fire started undermysterious circumstances. The captain had died on board,adequate lifesaving precautions and practices were not yetin common use, and the crew was inexperienced andpanicked. Twenty-knot winds from a strong storm fannedthe flames. Rescuers from the Coast Guard and many localresidents of northern Ocean and southern MonmouthCounties managed to save 414 of the passengers; 134 didnot survive.

In the evening, an attempt was made to tow the flamingwreck to New York harbor using tug boats, but the shiftingwinds caused the rope lines to burn, and the Morro Castlewas set adrift. The approach of the flaming ship wasbroadcast as it happened by Asbury Park’s own radiostation, WCAP (it would later become WJLK) which, until1944, was located in a second floor studio in ConventionHall’s northern promenade. While reading the 7:30 P.M.news headlines (which included information on the MorroCastle tragedy), announcer Tony Burley glanced out thewindow, then exclaimed: “My God! She’s coming in righthere!” Currents and winds beached the ruined liner on asand bar forty yards from Convention Hall.

By Sunday morning, thousands of people, both localsand tourists, arrived on the beach to view the wreck, whichwas still aflame. This enabled residents andconcessionaires to sell refreshments and collect twenty-five cent admission fees, $7,750.00 of which was donatedto two city charities: the West Side Community Center andthe West Side Mission. This maritime disaster turned out to


An informative video ofthe SS Morro Castle thatincludes contemporary

news footage and an eyewitness account may be

viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR0-TPNqb9M

be a godsend which drew the curious to a beach resortduring the winter months. It was also the origin of theAsbury Park “circuit”—a one-way rerouting of traffic thatincluded Ocean and Kingsley Avenues and kept the manyvisitors’ cars moving past the sight. It would remain so untilthe 1980s, when construction and demolition in theredevelopment zone rerouted the streets. But in March1935, the remains of the Morro Castle, built at a price of $5-million were sold as scrap for $33,605.00; the liner wastowed to Gravesend Bay for salvage.

HARD TIMESAlthough visitors did continue to come to Asbury Park

during the Depression, many were day-trippers who arrivedby train. During these difficult years, the Pennsylvania RailRoad and Central Rail Road of New Jersey (CRRNJ) hadspecial schedules to bring visitors to shore towns for theweekend or the day. The CRRNJ also collaborated withstate corporations to transport their employees fromBayonne to Asbury Park. However, the city still wanted tohost big events to attract bigger crowds and more publicity.In 1935, George Zuckerman was hired for this purpose. Oneof his successful projects was the bringing of the Mrs.America Pageant finals to Convention Hall in 1936. (Thepreliminary competition was held at the former PalisadesAmusement Park, located in Cliffside Park and Fort Lee.)True, Atlantic City had the sexier Miss America Pageant, butthis new event was more in keeping with the more clean-cut image that Asbury Park still maintained. Contestantswere judged on how well they performed household chores,and swimsuit modeling was included. Although thepageant still exists under different ownership and is nowheadquartered in California, the last Mrs. America event


True, AltanticCity had the

sexier MissAmerica

Pageant, butthis new event

was more inkeeping with

the moreclean-cut

image thatAsbury Park

stillmaintained.

held in Asbury Park occurred in 1968.Wartime rationing (which included gasoline and many

food items) limited the numbers of visitors to the resort cityand blackouts to frustrate German U-boat activitydetracted from Asbury Park’s care-free ambiance, but itwas a wartime “act of God” that caused millions of dollarsof damage to Asbury Park and other Jersey Shore resorts.The great hurricane of 1944 caused $25-million in damageto the boardwalk and all of the structures located on itseastern side. A city-financed jetty was finally built after thehurricane of 1960 to protect the boardwalk-like pilingfoundations of Convention Hall. Although light-hearted popsongs might describe being “under the boardwalk” as aromantic hideaway, at lower tides and during non-wintermonths this area beneath Convention Hall served to sheltersome of the city’s homeless (many were deinstitutionalizedpsychiatric patients) during the difficult years of the city’sdecline in the 1970s and 1980s.

MUSICThe acts booked into Convention Hall in the 1930s and

1940s catered to white audiences. These performersincluded many of the biggest Big Bands of the era such asTommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman. Paul Whiteman, whoplayed during the July 4th holiday in 1941, complained thatthe venue was not up to current standards—how else, afterall, could the “King of Jazz” have an unsuccessfulengagement?

With the exception of a sliver of beachfront between theCasino and the border with Ocean Grove, the Asbury Parkbeachfront, its venues and concessions remained raciallysegregated until the early 1960s. Until about 1970, thecity’s Springwood Avenue was known for its vibrant


Tommy Dorsey (above) andBenny Goodman were amongthe Big Band era names thatperformed at Convention Hall.

www.wikipedia.com

collection of small blues and jazz clubs. Locally owned andmanaged, they attracted the brightest stars in thesegenres. Count Basie played the State Ballroom in the early1940s, but would have to wait over a decade to appear atConvention Hall; Duke Ellington and his Orchestra wouldfinally play in Convention Hall on June 21, 1957.

The first postwar engagement to be held at ConventionHall was Harry James’ Big Band on March 30, 1946; theshow was broadcast live to CBS affiliates through WCAP.Later shows featured Guy Lombardo, Vaughn Monroe, andLouie Prima. The end of World War II coincided with thedecline of swing as the prime mover in American popularmusic, and a general shift in the popular culture. AsburyPark would take notice.

In the 1950s, Asbury Park was once again scrambling tocompete with a changing tourist industry. Improvements inthe American highway system were making other leisuredestinations more accessible by car. Convention Hallresponded with a mechanized “Mini Circus,” a “Zoo-a-Rama,” radioactive cars from Nevada’s Yucca Flats nuclearbomb test sites, and pinball concessions. The last of theseproved to be the most problematic and yet most lucrativeof all, and the Convention Hall concession alone brought in$8,000.00 annually. Although very popular with tourists,state government officials, religious leaders, and many notassociated with the resort industry were not convinced thatthey were “games of skill” and were actually the feared“games of chance”—in other words gambling. They werefinally outlawed as such by the state legislature in 1955.Nevertheless, the venue was still able to draw top acts ofthe era, such as Connie Francis, Frankie Avalon, andFabian.

Convention Hall began its life as a rock and rolllandmark on June 30, 1956, during a youth rampage


Count Basie (above) had beenborn at Red Bank, NJ butAfrican-American performerslike him and Duke Ellingtonwouldn’t be able to playConvention Hall until the1950s.

www.wikipedia.com

prompted by a dance concert featuring Frankie Lymon andthe Teenagers, a black vocal group with great crossoverappeal. It had been a hot day; the Teenagers went on stageat 11:00 P.M. As they started their act, a fight began at thesoft drink stand. The police quickly restored order, and theconcert was allowed to proceed. But the fighting could notbe fully controlled, and at midnight the concert wasstopped and the hall was cleared. The 2,700 mostly highschool aged kids at the concert were discharged onto theboardwalk among 75,000 strollers, many of them presentfor a VFW convention. By now, there were hundreds of kidsthrowing punches, and the APPD requested and got backup from police departments as far away as Red Bank andPoint Pleasant, as well as the State Police and FortMonmouth. There were also reports of roving cars of youngpeople breaking windows in the business district onCookman Avenue. When order was finally restored, therewere eight arrests (all local kids), three youths werehospitalized with stab wounds, and twenty-five incurredlesser injuries. The city police chief stated that variouscombinations of black and white kids fought each other butthe melee did not appear to be racially motivated. The citycouncil attempted to ban future rock and roll concerts,which as history shows us, did not last. What did result wasa long-standing conflict between city government and theentertainment community.

The 1960s brought new rock and roll palaces, each withtheir own famous rock impresario. Bill Graham had theFilmores—both West and East. John Scher had the CapitolTheater in Passaic. In Asbury Park, however, Moe Septeewas the man. Septee was a professional and experiencedentertainment promoter from Philadelphia, and he bookedacts for both Convention Hall and the Paramount Theaterfrom 1965 to 1975. He brought a variety of performers to


When Frankie Lymon and theTeenagers played theConvention Hall, a riot brokeout, starting with a fight at thesoft drink stand.

www.wikipedia.com

Watch a 1956 video oftheir biggest hit, “Why Do

Fools Fall in Love?”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q96ylFiQK_I

the city to please every taste, including such acts as DickClark’s Cavalcade of Stars (which included teen idols of theearly 1960s), jazz singer Mel Torme, and pop singer EddieFisher. There were often two shows for each billing—oneearlier in the evening, the other later. But his choices stillhad to be approved by the city government—this was thereason that the Beatles did not perform in Asbury Park.

Still, the list (all lists of performers in this piece arepartial lists) of rock, soul, and folk performers wasimpressive. It included: The Four Seasons, The Four Tops,Ray Charles, Joe Cocker (opening for Led Zeppelin justbefore his engagement at Woodstock), The Doors (onAugust 31, 1968—immortalized on LP; ticket price $5.50!),Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Herman’s Hermits(headliners for a show that included The Who) , BlackSabbath, The Beach Boys, The Dave Clark Five, The J. GeilsBand, Janis Joplin, Otis Reading, KISS, The Rolling Stones(July 3, 1966—Bruce Springteen was in the audience), theTemptations, and Pink Floyd. In 1968, a new venue forpopular music, the Garden State Arts Center, was opened.Located on Exit 116 of the GSP, its state-of-the-art openpavilion design offered stiff competition to older venueslike Convention Hall.

After the departure of Moe Septee, Convention Hallcontinued as a rock venue, this time with John Scherbooking the acts. The original Lynyrd Skynyrd played therethree months before their fatal plane crash in 1977. Otheracts that performed from the late 1970s through the 1990sincluded: Joan Baez, Harry Chapin, The Grateful Dead, VanHalen, The Allman Brothers Band, Judas Priest, IronMaiden, Blue Oyster Cult, Ted Nugent, King Crimson, PeterGabriel, Elvis Costello, The Clash and The Goo Goo Dolls.The first decade of the new millennium featured Bob Dylan,Deftones, Incubus, 50 Cent, The Bouncing Souls, and


Moe Septee was responsiblefor booking some of the biggestrock acts of the 1960s and 70sat Convention Hall.

http://www.asburyangels.com/inductees/view/6/

Dream Theater. Trade shows included annual boat shows,gemstone displays, and home improvement shows—whichall eventually left Asbury Park for better venues.

BRUCEBruce Springsteen has proven that you can go home

again. In the public mind, he was associated with AsburyPark since his 1973 recording that relayed “Greetings” fromthat city. Bruce was often sighted in the city’s clubs, andwhen the mood struck, spontaneously sat in with theirbands. In recent years, Convention Hall has been on theradar of every Springsteen fan as the location for everyrehearsal for his upcoming tours since 1999. Some of theshows featured participation by local musicians. Bruce andthe E-Street Band played two rehearsal shows in March1999 (ticket price $20.00!) to prepare for their 1999–2000world tour, and numerous holiday benefit shows inDecember 2000, 2001, and 2003 for area charities. To


South rear side of ConventionHall, as fans on beach listen toa closed Bruce Springsteenrehearsal in late September2004.

www.wikipedia.com

prepare for the 2002–2003 tour for “The Rising,” he playedseveral shows in July and August 2002. (This visit includeda live broadcast of the “Today” show from Asbury Park.)Fans that could not get into Convention Hall were able tolisten to the music on the adjoining beach. In September2004 he returned to rehearse for the “Vote for Change”political rallies. In April 2006 he worked on “The SeegerSessions” which would be presented in New Orleans as abenefit for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. September2007 brought Bruce back to prepare for the “Magic” tour; inMarch 2009, it was for “Working on a Dream.” His mostrecent Convention Hall rehearsal was in preparation forAustin, Texas’ SXSW in March 2012.

In recent years, Convention Hall has housed an amazingvariety of events, all reflecting the diverse faces ofAmerican popular culture. (Listings for upcoming eventsmay be found at: http://apboardwalk.com/.) Another partiallist of these past events include: the Monmouth CountyCotillion Society’s Annual Debutante Ball, the Jersey ShoreCats summer basketball league, roller derby courtesy of theJersey Shore Roller Girls, a circus and a rodeo (yes, really,in February 2001 and June 2007, respectively), punk rockflea markets, an annual Halloween “Haunted Hall,” concertsby “Los Tigres del Norte,” tattoo and moustache shows,Beerfest, Comicon, and pro-wrestling.

MAINTENANCE CHALLENGESAlthough beachfront ownership had been retained by

the city of Asbury Park since founder James Bradley sold itin 1903 for $150,000.00, managing its various structuresand permanent pavilions profitably was often a challenge.Over the course of decades, much needed maintenancehad been deferred. During the abortive Asbury Park


Bruce.www.wikipedia.com

renaissance of the 1980s, investors Henry and SebastianVacarro were able to put a new roof on Convention Hall.(The Byzantine nature of Asbury Park redevelopment from

the 1980s through 2006—and possibly beyond—is astory that deserves its own,separate article. Onehundred years afterBradley’s sale, the city ofAsbury Park retained onlythe boardwalk itself, allstructures, concessions anddevelopment rights for the

beachfront are now in the hands of private developers.) Thebeachfront’s past forlorn appearance was recorded inseveral films which required a seedy, out-of-date seasidelocation (Stardust Memories, 1980; Baby, It’s You, 1983, Cityby the Sea, 2002; Dark Ride, 2006; several episodes of TheSopranos, as well as numerous indie films). Concerts held inConvention Hall during the early 2000s were reported asnot being heated or air conditioned.

Perhaps the greatest insult to the integrity ofConvention Hall resulted from the theft of twenty-sevendecorative copper panels which once adorned its exterior.These panels were original to the building, dated from 1929,and were 5 1/2-feet by 16 1/2-feet in size. They wereestimated to weigh 450 pounds each and carried anestimated total scrap value of about $60,000.00. Thepanels had been removed from the building and stored withother decorative elements for the purpose of restorationand to do a structural inspection. Per the police report, theywere stolen on 08/02/11; this was announced publicallythe following March. As of February 2015, the State of NewJersey continues to have an ongoing investigation into this


The copper panels that wouldlater disappear, presumedstolen for their scrap value, canbe seen in this image inder thewindows.

http://asburyparksun.com/historical-society-to-take-the-helm-on-missing-

copper-panels/

theft. As a result, the present developer, MadisonMarquette, believes it is under no obligation to replace thepanels until the investigation has been concluded. Theopenings left by the missing panels were recently filled inwith non-decorative brickwork to safeguard ConventionHall from the elements.

Both Convention Hall and the Paramount Theater wereclosed during the summer of 2013 due to a disputebetween the city and the developer concerning theinstallation of a $1-million sprinkler system. MadisonMarquette claimed this was cost prohibitive, due to bothvenues’ unprofitability. In addition, on August 4, 2013, a 4-inch by 12-foot by 6-foot concrete slab fell from the ceilingof the outside promenade in the building’s north eastcorner. This had happened shortly before a baby showerwas to be held in that spot, and fortunately occurred beforeany guests had arrived. There were no injuries, but theincident served as a stern warning to all regardingConvention Hall’s deterioration.

Although presently in use as a venue for music andniche events, as well as the site of two indoor/outdoor bars,Convention Hall’s future is in jeopardy. It is a living lessonthat landmark status alone does not confer protection uponhistoric sites, as well as the difficulty in preserving aprivately held historic commercial location which neverquite met its bottom line. Until the day when ConventionHall itself is just a memory, a visit to this Grande Dame ofbeachfront architecture is well worth the traveler’s time—whether one is reliving old memories, or creating new ones.


Brick is all that remains nowafter the presumed theft of thecopper panels.

http://asburyparksun.com/historical-society-to-take-the-helm-on-missing-

copper-panels/

FOR FURTHER READINGThe reader is enthusiastically referred to the well-written

and very enjoyable main sources used in this article-allgreat additions to any Jerseyphile’s library:Pike, Helen-Chantal, Asbury Park’s Glory Days: The Story of an

American Resort; 2005, Rutgers University Press, NewBrunswick, New Jersey

Wolff, Daniel, 4th of July, Asbury Park: A History of thePromised Land; 2005, Bloomsbury USA, New York, NewYork

Goldstein, Stan and Mikle, Jean, Rock & Roll Tour of theJersey Shore( 4th edition); 2013 self-published

The Asbury Park Sun, http://asburyparksun.com/, the area’sonline newspaper

Those interested in learning more about the pre-1970 WestSide music scene are invited to visit Charlie and PamHorner’s wonderful Classic Urban Harmonies website:www.classicurbanharmony.net and the Asbury ParkHistorical Society: www.aphistoricalsociety.org.

With sincere thanks to Helen, Dan and Stan, as well aseveryone's favorite city librarian, Bob Stewart, and myhusband Ron, who attended many Convention Hall rockconcerts back in the day!


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The New Jersey Memory Palace Troppoli GSL27