CAPE MAY – The Cape May Branch of the County Library is one step closer to becoming a reality with the recent approval of the plans for the restoration and repurposing of the Franklin Street School in Cape May.
According to a county release, the Franklin Street School was built in 1927 and opened for black students from kindergarten to eighth grade. The school closed, in 1948, when New Jersey amended the constitution to prohibit segregated schools.
The building later served as a warehouse for the city and was later preserved as a historic site by the New Jersey Historic Trust, which saved it from demolition and leads the way to the restoration and use as a public library.
The New Jersey Historic Sites Council, under the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), unanimously approved the plans for the restoration and repurposing of the school. The Historic Sites Council is an appointed body of 11 citizens created to review projects and advise the commissioner for final action.
The Franklin Street school will serve as the Cape May City branch of the Cape May County Library System and will provide more space to include additional programs with updated technology and innovation opportunities for the users. The school will also provide expanded and updated space for the Center for Community Arts, which has called the Franklin Street School home since 2002.
“I can’t be more thrilled by the conditional approval by the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office. This project has created a strong partnership within the community and local and county governments. There has been a lot of work and collaboration to get to this point, and with this approval, we can move on to make this a reality,” stated County Commissioner E. Marie Hayes, liaison to the County Library.
The restoration of the Franklin Street School will add to Cape May’s ongoing plans to create an African American district that will include the Allen African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, the Harriet Tubman Museum, and the Stephen Smith House, on Lafayette Street. The Franklin Street School renovation project received a federal grant in April 2020, in the amount of $500,000 and $3.45 million, in November 2020, from Gov. Murphy from the Library Construction Bond Act.
“I applaud the members of the Committee for their vision and hard work and look forward to the completion of the project. It is not every day we can preserve an integral part of Cape May’s Africa American history. This library will stand as a reminder of our past and become a symbol of a better future for all our residents,” stated Hayes.
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