Newark, New Jersey: A long abandoned building in Newark's South Ward will soon be revitalized. The former Clinton Trust Company, located at 505 Clinton Avenue at the northwest corner of Chadwick Avenue, will soon become an arts facility named for musician Nina Simone.
According to the Newark Department of Economic & Housing Development, there will be 27 affordable-housing apartments, a cafe, workspaces, an art gallery, and a performing arts space. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday.
The building has been abandoned for several decades, though the Clinton Trust Company inscription on the Chadwick and Clinton Avenue facades is still visible. According to the project proposal, the Clinton Avenue facade will remain, as will the century-old eagle sculpture atop the building. However, the remainder of the building will be torn down.
The new arts center is one of several changes that have been made to this section of Clinton Hill. In the past five years, the Genesis Clinton Hill Apartments, Coffee Express, Mayor Ras Baraka's Little City Hall, and the Donald M. Payne, Sr. Public Safety Complex have opened on Clinton Avenue.
The area near the Clinton Avenue corridor once had a large Jewish community, and the former Temple B'nai Abraham still towers over the street, though it is now a bible study center.
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