Vacant New Jersey doll factory to become charter school after multi-million dollar renovation
The 300 block of Grand Street in Trenton is an active construction site. On Wednesday, cranes were carrying equipment, bricks were being repaired, and concrete was being painted.
"We now have windows and drywall going in, and when we saw that we started jumping for joy," said Genevieve King, the chief advancement officer at Foundation Academies. "This is vision coming to life."
Foundation Academies is a public charter school in the city that's expanding to a third location. King says the 91,000-square-foot building is being renovated into a state-of-the-art high school, a place intended to spark opportunity and reflect the promise of the next generation.
"This is what we believe you are capable of, and we will invest anything in you because you're capable of it, this is the message that is critical to deliver to Trenton's children," King said.
The city says the building was built in the 1930s. It was the former Horsman Doll Factory, which was once one of the largest doll factories in the country. It's been abandoned for decades, and neighbors and the mayor said they're thankful it's being transformed.
"It really brought a lot of blight to the neighborhood and we're really excited it's being rehabilitated and repurposed and will be an educational center for students throughout the city," said Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora.
King says the new campus will be more than twice the size of the current Foundation Academies high school, and it will feature labs, a gym, a library, and a college and career center.
"We are giving them the best equipment the best facilities and the best education," she said.
Officials say construction will cost $60 million, financed through a public bond.
The school is scheduled to open in August of next year.