Lowe’s Donates $40K to Franklin Street School Restoration

CAPE MAY— The historic Franklin Street School has received a $40,000 grant from Lowe’s home centers through the National Trust for Historic Preservation for further restoration.
The Franklin Street School opened in September 1928 as an elementary school for Cape May’s African American children. Twenty years later with segregation banned by New Jersey’s new constitution, the building’s use was changed to a vocational annex to Cape May High School.
By the 1980s, the Franklin Street School was in a state of decline, the victim of neglect and years of deferred maintenance.
Since then, Franklin Street School has stood as a reminder of Cape May’s past. It evokes memories of deep division and, at the same time, bears witness to the magnitude and vitality of Cape May’s African American community.
The school is distinguished as a contributing building to the Cape May National Register Historic District. It also is designated by the State of New Jersey as an African American Historic Site.
Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation awarded nearly $500,000 in grants through the National Trust to aid the rehabilitation of 10 schools. This latest round of grants brings the partners’ support for historic schools and their communities to 19 states, from Alaska to South Carolina, and brings the contributions of Lowe’s Foundation to $3 million in three years.
In 2002, the Center for Community Arts (CCA) acquired a 25-year lease on Franklin Street School from the City of Cape May. Since then, CCA has been grooming the historic building for its comeback in late 2008 as the Franklin Street School Community Cultural Center.
Total cost of the rehabilitation is projected at $3 million.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the New Jersey Historic Trust and the Black United Fund of New Jersey funded project planning.
CCA has a $750,000 grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust which requires a match, said Milt Edelman, a board of trustees member. He said in the current economic environment, matching funds are not easy to find.
Phase one of four phases has been completed with included environmental remediation, some interior demolition and sealing the exterior.
Some of Phase Two has been completed including repairing or replacing structural steel lintels, windows and exterior doors.
Edelman said some items have been deferred from Phase Two due to budgetary constraints.
“This Lowe’s grant will help to accomplish some of those leftovers,” he said. “The building is stable and structurally sound.”
Some settling of the school building has occurred which will be remedied with Lowe’s grant funding, said Edelman. He said all steel has been repaired or replaced and water leaks stopped. Additional brick work and pointing is needed.
CCA doesn’t have a firm date for a grand reopening of the school. It continues to apply for grants to complete the work.
If work crews were fully mobilized, about one year of work remains to be completed on the school, according to David Mackenzie, chairman of the board of trustees.
A “Save America’s Treasures” grant through the Department of Interior has been applied for, said Bernadette Matthews, CCA executive director.
Edelman said CCA has also applied for a grant from the 1772 Foundation, administered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Once restoration is complete, Franklin Street School will serve as the Franklin Street School Community Cultural Center, which will house:
• Center for Community Arts’ Youth Arts, Artist-in-Residence, Art Programs for Adults, Community History Program, Art and History Exhibits and WCFA Radio.
• City of Cape May Recreational Programs
• The John and Janet Nash African American History Archive
• The Archive of the Greater Cape May Historical Society
• Programs designed by other community organizations
Upgraded and barrier-free, this Cape May landmark will be a treasure of history and art. It will serve as the centerpiece of CCA’s African American Heritage Walking Tours. Inside, it will feature a permanent exhibit on the history of Franklin Street School, and on the key contributions of African Americans to Cape May.