Edwards School: Barnegat Board OKs Hazmat Inspection, Report Says

BARNEGAT, NJ — The Barnegat Board of Education has approved a hazardous materials inspection of the vacant Elizabeth V. Edwards School.

As first reported by Jersey Shore Online, the board approved the inspection at its Oct. 26 meeting.

The building potentially contains hazardous materials, board president Sean O'Brien is quoted as saying in the article. The board is considering several options, according to Jersey Shore Online: demolishing the building entirely, renovating it, or demolishing and then rebuilding it.

The school - once the original Barnegat High School - dates back to 1930. It was later used as an elementary school, but was closed in 2004 because of structural and handicapped access problems. It has sat vacant ever since, the front door boarded up and all power to the building cut off.

A crew from the television show "Ghost Hunters" visited the school for an episode aired in 2014 on the Syfy network. Group members spent four chilly days back in January walking the battered hallways of the school, long rumored to be haunted.

Former Patch writer Patricia A. Miller contributed to this report.