Gingerbread Gets a New Home

In December of 2021 we ran a contest to raffle off historic gingerbread donated from a Wildwood home slated for renovation. We received many great submissions and in February we picked our winner. A family with an early 1900s home in North Wildwood was the recipient and they also made a generous donation to our organization. The family is planning to use the gingerbread as part of a renovation they are working on for their home and once everything is all finished, we’ll update with photos of the completed work. 

Wildwood gingerbread all loaded up for transport to its new home. Courtesy Dennis Pierce

Reusing existing construction materials such as gingerbread rather than throwing them into the dumpster is an idea that is starting to see adoption by forward-looking cities such as San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Boise, and Portland. This alternative to demolition is called “deconstruction” and it gives the benefit of not only reducing waste, but also keeping a connection to the past even if the building can’t be saved. Rather than a smashed pile of old growth wood, plaster, brick, and glass tossed in a landfill, a deconstructed building is carefully dismantled and then the materials are then sold and reused in the local new construction. Imagine if the Wildwoods had adopted deconstruction so that all new condos incorporated some architectural elements from the buildings they replaced rather than just being cookie cutter designs and materials.

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