Employees of McGhee Contracting, hoisted into position by a lift, hammer away at RBC's stack Saturday morning.
Demolition of Red Bank Catholic's smokestack got underway Saturday, a few days earlier than expected.
Tim McGhee, owner of McGhee Contracting in Oceanport, tells redbankgreen that the early arrival of lift and other equipment enabled his firm to get a jump on the work, which had been scheduled to begin today.
The stack is the last remaining piece of a boiler building and three
other small structures that were razed on the site, which is
surrounded by Monmouth Street stores, St. James School on Peters Place
and RBC/St. James Church on Broad Street.
McGhee says the wood beams and rafters from the buildings were sold to a Pennsylvania company that will recycle them into flooring. Steel and other metalwork has also been recycled, he says.
The site is to become home to a new three-story structure housing a
gym, a fitness center, locker rooms, coaches' offices and two
classrooms.



























Further proof that mankind is really dumb…. my 4 year old can come up with a better (and safer) way to knock this down – really, two untethered chuckleheads on a wimpy lift with big hammers? These guys aren’t even wearing hard hats. Union job? Probably not. RBC, you’ll get what you pay for, I just hope these guys survive.
I always thought that smokestack was pretty cool, oh well.
This job looks like an accident waiting to happen. I'm sure the catholic church can afford to do things right.
Dear concerned citizen, I understand that the reason the smokestack is being manually knocked down is because the town required this (not RBC or a choice of McGhee). Instead of allowing equipment (ie like a wrecking ball),the town forced the contractor to use this more time consuming approach. The contractor should be commended for doing such a clean, safe job. Having children in both schools, safety was the first priority. Mr McGhee should be commended. He is fast, and safe.
The rest of your comments, which I find derogatory and offensive, don't deserve a response.
Don is correct. We bid the job and that is how Red Bank wanted it done. No explosives, no wrecking ball. Just brick by brick.