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The Beacon (Jersey City)

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The Beacon is a mixed-use development located on a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site on Bergen Hill, a crest of the Hudson Palisades and one of the highest geographical points in Jersey City, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The Beacon, which occupies the Jersey City Medical Center's rehabilitated original complex, creates the northeastern corner of the Bergen-Lafayette section and is just east of McGinley Square. The Beacon includes 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2) of residential and retail space, approximately 1,200 luxury residences and 80,000 square feet (7,400 m2) of retail space.[3]

Jersey City Medical Center
The Beacon in 2020
The Beacon (Jersey City) is located in Hudson County, New Jersey
The Beacon (Jersey City)
LocationRoughly bounded by Montgomery Street, Cornelison Avenue, Dupont Street and Clifton Place, and Baldwin Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey
Coordinates40°43′20″N 74°3′51″W / 40.72222°N 74.06417°W / 40.72222; -74.06417
NRHP reference No.85003057[1]
NJRHP No.1515[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 27, 1985
Designated NJRHPMarch 19, 1985

Jersey City Medical Center moved to the site in 1882, and the complex was expanded in stages through the mid-20th century. Metrovest Equities was designated the redeveloper of the property in the first decade of the 21st century. The redevelopment stalled after a down-turn in the market,[4] but was completed by April 2016.[5]

The complex is listed on the national and New Jersey registers of historic places.

History

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During the Great Depression, new buildings were added as a Works Progress Administration project secured by Mayor Frank Hague,[6] The Jersey City Medical Center included such architectural and designer trappings as marble walls, terrazzo floors, etched glass, decorative moldings and glittering chandeliers, and had one of the most famous maternity wards in the country – the Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital.[7]

During the 1950s, JCMC was the home of the medical school of Seton Hall University, which later became the New Jersey Medical School, now located in Newark. Oversized and understaffed, in 1988 the hospital became a private, non-profit organization. In 1994, the State of New Jersey designated it as a regional trauma center, and in the late 1990s it was approved as a core teaching affiliate of Mount Sinai School of Medicine.[8]

Metrovest Equities was designated the redeveloper of the property in 2003 and officially closed on it in 2005. The developer converted the ten federally landmarked, Art Deco buildings in the largest residential restoration project in the country and the largest in the history of New Jersey, with an expected cost estimated at $350 million.[9]

Use of existing infrastructure and restoration

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The existing buildings are listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places.[10]

The first buildings to be renovated were the Rialto and Capitol buildings, which now serve as residential condominiums and entertainment spaces. The restoration of these two buildings alone was estimated over $133 million and it took over four years to complete. In 2009, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Historic Preservation Office awarded an Outstanding Contribution of Excellence Award[11] to the contractors and architects and others who participated in the restoration of the Rialto and Capitol buildings.[12]

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Murdoch Hall

Both the exterior and the interior of the building were used as a filming location for the 1994 Robert Redford film Quiz Show depicting the 1950s quiz show scandals. Sections of the interior of Murdoch Hall were used because they resembled the art deco backdrop of Manhattan's Rockefeller Center, where the game show Twenty-One was filmed. Approximately $25,000 was spent on renovating the neglected building to render it suitable for filming.[13]

Richard Price 1992 novel, Clockers, makes a thinly veiled reference to the abandoned Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital on Clifton Place. A "chronicler of Hudson County's underbelly", Price describes how vandals stripped the hospital interior of artifacts to be sold for scrap.[14]

See also

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Preceded by Tallest Building in Jersey City
The Orpheum
1931—1936
90m 		Succeeded by
Jersey City Medical Center
Preceded by
Jersey City Medical Center
 Tallest Building in Jersey City
B.S. Pollack Hospital
1936—1989
98m 		Succeeded by

References

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  1. ^ Karschner, Terry (April 1981). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Jersey City Medical Center" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved April 15, 2013. and accompanying 33 photos from 1960 to 1981.
  2. ^ Historic Preservation Office (April 5, 2013). "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places: Hudson County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 19, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  3. ^ Martin, Antoinette (February 27, 2005). "POSTINGS; A New Lease on Life For Jersey City Complex". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Renshaw, Jarrett (April 4, 2012). "Once a modern marvel, Beacon of Jersey City sold after hitting rough times". NJ.com. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  5. ^ Herzog, Laura (April 17, 2016). "Ex-Hague hospital officially reopens as Art Deco luxury apartments". NJ.com. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  6. ^ Golway, Tom (April 15, 2009), "W.P.A. Projects Left Their Stamp on the Region", The New York Times, retrieved October 6, 2011
  7. ^ "Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital". www.NJCU.edu. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  8. ^ "Our History - Jersey City Medical Center - New Jersey". Barnabas Health. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  9. ^ Benecki, Nancy (March 6, 2009). "The New Deal's Lasting Legacy in Jersey City". JerseyCityIndependent.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  10. ^ "National Register of Historical Places - NEW JERSEY (NJ), Hudson County". Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  11. ^ "New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection". Historic Preservation Office of New Jersey. New Jersey Dept. Environmental Protection. 2009. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  12. ^ "Historic Renovation: The Beacon - Rialto & Capitol". Historic Renovation: The Beacon - Rialto & Capitol. Coco Architectural Grilles and Metalcraft. November 26, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  13. ^ Karnoutsos, Carmela (2007). "Medical Center Complex/The Beacon". Jersey City Past and Present. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019.
  14. ^ Strunsky, Steve (January 14, 2001). "Why Can't Hudson County Get Any Respect? Despite Soaring Towers, Rising Property Values and Even a Light Rail, the Region Struggles to Polish Its Image". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2021.

Further reading

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