Attempts by alumni and local organizers to save a century-old high school in Camden have thus far failed, and officials say a wrecking ball is destined to hit the structure.

But some in the community are hoping that a final push, and a new governor, can change the fate of the iconic and beloved "Castle on the Hill."

The demolition of Camden High School was announced in September, just months after the last graduating class walked in June. A date for the razing has yet to be set.

While the building had fallen into some disrepair, many with close ties to the school say it is worth saving. Around 20 people were there around noon on Monday, which marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to send a message to Gov.-elect Phil Murphy: Stand up and save the school.

"How many kids get to walk into a castle for school?" Mo'Neke Singleton-Ragsdale, a 1991 graduate of the school who sent her four sons there as well, said Monday afternoon, addressing a group sporting the school's purple and gold colors. "I'm not giving up until a wrecking ball hits the school."

Many said they advocate for keeping and repairing the current school not just because of its history and grand appearance, but because they worry the deals and decisions made by an appointed rather than elected school board don't reflect the community's needs and desires.

Activists with the group, Friends of Camden High, are working with with members of the Camden County NAACP, South Jersey Women for Progressive Change, South Jersey Progressive Democrats and others to ask Murphy to both restore community voting for school board positions and designate the school as a landmark, pushing for a renovation rather than reconstruction. Currently, the mayor appoints members of the city's school board.

An alumna who graduated in 1980, Vida Neil, said she also has concerns that a four-year closure of the school will encourage students to enroll in charters, and eventually cause the school's population to drop, further impacting the city's public schools.

She also said she believes the old construction is of a higher quality than what a new contractor will build, and called the decision to build a new structure "blatant racism," explaining that nearby towns have been able to repair and keep its original school building from 1910, and Camden should be able to do the same.

"It means everything to me," she said, gazing up at the castle.

But supporters of the demolition argue that keeping a building for nostalgia purposes is wasteful, and that a new, streamlined and modern design will both prove more economical and better able to support students in a city that have long struggled with poverty and lower graduation rates. Officials have unveiled a plan for a $133 million campus in the castle's place that would include the current high school population as well as magnet schools, raising the student body capacity from 700 to 1,200.

Still, the organizers see the move as a hasty decision that ignores their voices. Both federal and county lawsuits were filed seeking an injunction on the demolition, but judges dismissed both as of December, Matthew Litt, an attorney involved with the case said Monday.

So organizers have resulted to grassroots tactics. They passed around petitions Monday, and several said they planned to make calls to Murphy's office on Tuesday, which marks his first day on the job.

When the gathering had grown to around 20 people just a few minutes after noon, two Camden County Police Department vehicles pulled up outside of the school. An officer stepped out and said he was responding to a report of a fight.

Gary Frazier, an organizer with the Green Party and co-vice president of the party's Camden County chapter, expressed his outrage at the officer, saying that there was a fight taking place -- but that it was a fight to save the school.

"This is what we talk about because of the things they use against people of color," he said in an interview later, explaining how difficult it is to gather in communities of color without rousing suspicion.

The officers left the scene without issue and the rally continued peacefully.

Dan Keashen, a spokesman for the Camden County Police Department, confirmed that police had responded to a formal report of a fight.

He also emphasized the city's commitment to protecting peaceful protesters.

"We'll always ensure that people's constutional rights of protest are being preserved," he said. "We're there to preserve the citizens rights, their god-given right to do just that."

And organizers like Darnell Hardwick, president of the Camden County NAACP, are holding out hopes that their voices will be heard by the new administration -- they're just not sure if that will happen the building is in crumbles.

"We hope that with the new governor coming in, we'll have an ear," he said.

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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