6/11 '07 Artworks isn't quite dead yet

There's a big happening at Artworks on 6/23-24 '07. The organization is hosting a 24 hour artshow (never heard of such a thing). Also they've updated their web site and its kind of flashy (www.artworkstrenton.org) . It's tough to sell off a thriving arts institution.

4/30 - More flash from the newsroom!

Spoke with HHG over the weekend at several functions. (Can I just say what a healthy party scene Trenton has. I saw HHG developer David Henderson at 3 different functions on Saturday). Anyway back to the news.

Both David and HHG's Michael Goldstein assure me that they've read the title and the city does own the Trolly Barn building. They suspect Mr. Ungrady may be confusing the building with the parking lot which the city knows it doesn't own.

4/28/06 - Flash from the newsroom!

City Councilman John Ungrady told an election debate forum last night that he's learned the Artworks building isn't actually the city's to sell. Two things are disturbing about this: 1) that the city could have mucked this up so badly and caused the ruckus described below, and 2) that I'm getting useful information from John Ungrady.

Until I can get the story straightened out, I'll leave my description of the project as below.

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Trenton developers David Henderson, John Hatch and Michael Goldstein (HHG Development) have reached a tentative agreement with the city to buy a building formerly used as a Trolley Barn at Stockton and Market. More recently the building has been used by a non-profit called Artworks to teach art classes to the public. Artworks was no longer able to afford to operate the facility and Mercer County Community College took over the art classes but kept Artworks as an operating name.

The building is 8800 SF and has an industrial roof window running the length of the building. It's pretty much the ultimate loft building. It has interesting industrial features and a great downtown location next to a great neighborhood (Mill Hill). Henderson, Hatch and Goldstein (HHG) plan to convert the building into 8-9 lofts suitable for live work space.

Sounds great, but there's only one drawback. Arts fans in the community and in particular the Artworks board are protesting the sale contending that the benefit of having this arts instution in this location is worth more to the city than the construction of the lofts.

This is a bit of an obstacle for HHG as many of the opponents are respected Trenton revitalizationists in their own right. In the interest of giving Trenton Lofts readers as complete an understanding of the project as possible, you can read HHG's proposal which contains a great deal of information about their plans for the site by downloading the this .pdf file The Trolley Barn Proposal.

HHG doesn't own the building yet and has 6 months to finalize their plans and have the city make their final decision. Meanwhile, loft fans should stay tuned to this development saga especially as it takes place over the backdrop of Trenton's municipal elections this Spring.