NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A Wilmington resident and real estate developer, who has lobbied for various causes in his hometown for decades, is taking on a new charge: preserving an area high school currently undergoing renovations.
READ MORE: Commissioners approve more funding for NHHS, despite suggesting it’s a money pit
ALSO: NHC commissioners toy with idea of tearing down NHHS, approve funding for facility study
Gene Merritt has submitted an application to the City of Wilmington’s Historic Preservation Commission for New Hanover High School to be considered for the historic preservation study list. This preliminary step is to assess if the building meets eligibility metrics to become a local landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.
A graduate from NHHS in 1962, Merritt said after speaking with local architects and thinking about the landscape of Wilmington, he considers the school a landmark.
“Let’s just look at the definition of ‘landmark,’” he told Port City Daily Wednesday. “It’s the feature of a landscape or of a town, something that can be recognized from a distance. I’d say New Hanover High fits that description.”
Also an historic preservationist, Merritt’s application indicates his goal is for future preservation of the school and to “prevent possible demolition.”
Facing mounting repairs on the building, some county commissioners brought up in a public meeting last August the idea of tearing down the structure and rebuilding altogether.
At the time, New Hanover County Schools was requesting $300,000 be put toward a study of the facility’s needs. The 102-year-old building has multiple areas of rehabilitation to be addressed and the study is to determine how much it will cost overall. In May of last year, NHCS assistant superintendent of operations, Eddie Anderson, estimated to WHQR the school needs $90 million in repairs.
Then commissioner Jonathan Barfield Jr. worried the county was throwing “good money at the bad” in repairs and thought maybe building anew would be more beneficial.
“In the grand scheme of things, it might end up being revealed that it’s so great a cost that we have no choice but to build a new facility,” Dane Scalise also said in August, according to previous PCD reporting. “It is my estimation that this is one of those gems of New Hanover, and there are quite a few people that I think would feel very strongly about us retaining it, if at all possible, and I would at least like to know that that’s possibility or not before we make a decision like that.”
Commissioner Rob Zapple had estimated the county spent roughly $25 million on the school since 2006.
Currently, NHHS is undergoing construction to its foundation and commissioners have approved millions for the repairs.
“There shouldn’t be any monkey business going on about trying to, in any way, make it look like it’s going to cost too much to fix it,” Merritt said, though he was clear he wasn’t presuming this upon government entities or contractors. “For political purposes, sometimes people that don’t want something to happen will try to make it look like it costs too much. I am not saying any of that is happening in this case. But I am concerned that it could.”
Contributing historical landmarks are often applicable for federal and state grants to aid in their upkeep, which Merritt recognized Wednesday, but that wasn’t the primary reason he was submitting.
“I love the architecture of the building,” Merritt said. “I think it is absolutely beautiful.”
Located in the Carolina Heights Historic District Overlay at 1307 Market St., New Hanover High School’s construction began in 1919 and was completed by 1922. Its wings were added in 1933 and the Princess Street Gym in 1940. Brogden Hall came in 1954.
Its architectural design consists of mid-20th century Art Deco and 19th-century Beaux Arts (using Greco-Roman elements). Merritt lists the latter aesthetic as “very rare” in Wilmington.
The building was designed by architects William J. Wilkins and Leslie N. Boney Sr. Wilkins also designed high schools on the National Register of Historic Places, such as Marion High School and Poyner High School, both in South Carolina.
Boney is known for overseeing Cape Fear Country Club, Carolina Beach Hotel, and the New Hanover County Courthouse Annex. His son, Charles, did the addition of Brogden Hall to NHHS in the 1950s.
Brogden Hall is not considered part of Merritt’s application, though it suggests the commission may find it should be included, if deemed appropriate.
The evaluation to get on the list will include assessing the building’s age — it should be 50 years or more — and its aesthetic, ensuring it’s similar to when originally constructed. The building also must prove to be of significance to the area — architecturally, historically, through engineering or achievements garnered otherwise.
Merritt lists on the application the school has been integral to the county for more than 100 years serving as a primary institution to educate students — now roughly 1,500 annually. It also has won more than 30 state sports championships.
Numerous well-known and successful graduates have emerged from its halls, including — but not limited to — NFL tight end Alge Crumpler, NFL quarterback Roman Gabriel, SAS Institute CEO James Goodnight, and major league baseball player Trot Nixon.
The school often serves as a popular location in cinema as well. Television and film productions that have set up shop in Wilmington have used it, as seen in “Dream a Little Dream,” “Blue Velvet,” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
It also appeared at the onset of an NFL ad about girls flag football that aired during Super Bowl 2025. The building was marked as “Central High School.”
The New Hanover County School Board of Education neither approved nor denied the application, according to documents submitted for the proposal, but are aware of its existence. Should it be approved for consideration, the board as the primary owner of the school would have to support its inclusion as a local landmark.
Locally, Merritt has helped champion numerous causes, including most recently the goal of bringing back passenger rail to Wilmington. In the 1980s, he led efforts to extend I-40 into Wilmington, a game-changer for economic development and tourism growth.
Merritt said he coordinated with the Historic Wilmington Foundation, who expressed to PCD last year its desire to see the building’s upkeep be maintained for future generations. Merritt worked with WHF board member Sylvia Kochler through the application process.
He also said he informed both Anderson at NHCS and Commissioner Chair Bill Rivenbark of his intent to submit the application.
The Historic Preservation Commission will meet on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 5:30 p.m. It can be livestreamed here. Check back to follow up on updates regarding Merritt’s application.
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