Poles At Old Good Luck Point Transmission Station Will Start To Come Down On Jan. 17

The decades-old poles that stud the tidal marshlands off Bayview Avenue in Bayville are a familiar site to Ocean County residents. They've been here for more than 80 years.

And on Jan. 17, a contractor hired by the U.S. Division of Fish and Wildlife will start pulling them out.

The poles, lofty metal antennas and wires and the brick transmitter building were once a major, state-of-the-art communications center on the Jersey Shore. The facilities were a high-frequency, shortwave radio transmitting station providing telephone high-seas service to ships at seas and to overseas locations under the callsign WOO, according to www.long-lines.net

But the building, the pole field and and the rusting antennas haven't been used since 1999. AT&T removed the wires connecting the attenna poles, before the marshlands were turned over to the Edwin F. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge.

Berkeley Township bought the brick building for a dollar years ago, during another administration, Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. has said.

Berkeley Township still owns the shortwave transmitter building. The township bought it for a dollar back during another administration.

Although the township once considered using the building for another purpose, Superstorm Sandy put an end to that.

The building is only 16 inches above sea level and was swamped during the storm.

The pictures of the inside of the transmission building show the toll years and storms have made. The building was once under five feet of water.

The shortwave facility at Good Luck Point (known as Ocean Gate) was a renowned transmitting station, which helped broadcast Voice of America around the globe after 1944 and enabled communication with ships at sea throughout the twentieth century. The historic property is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The proposed project will remove approximately 340 wooden poles from the inactive antenna field, along with several metal antennae.

by Patricia A. Miller

Images: www.teslaradio.org., Patricia A. Miller