The Beacon is a

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

located on a site on Bergen Hill, a crest of the Hudson Palisades and one of the highest geographical points in

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Hudson County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States. The Beacon, which occupies the Jersey City Medical Center's rehabilitated original complex, creates the northeastern corner of the Bergen Lafayette Section and is just east of

McGinley Square McGinley Square is in Jersey City, New Jersey, located near the middle of the city, south of Journal Square. The square itself is at the intersection of two of the city's major thoroughfares, Montgomery Street (which runs from Downtown at Ex ...

. The Beacon includes of residential and retail space, approximately 1,200 luxury residences and of retail space. Jersey City Medical Center moved to the site in 1882, and the complex was expanded in stages through the mid-20th century. Metrovest Equities was designated the redeveloper of the property in the first decade of the 21st century. The redevelopment stalled after a down-turn in the market, but was completed by April 2016. The complex is listed on the

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

and

registers of historic places.

History

During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, new buildings were added as a

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

project secured by Mayor Frank Hague, The Jersey City Medical Center included such architectural and designer trappings as

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

walls,

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...

floors, etched

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

, decorative moldings and glittering

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

s, and had one of the most famous maternity wards in the country – the Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital. During the 1950s, JCMC was the home of the medical school of

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

, which later became the

New Jersey Medical School New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)—also known as Rutgers New Jersey Medical School—is a medical school of Rutgers University, a public research university in Newark, New Jersey. It has been part of the Rutgers Division of Biomedical and Health ...

, now located in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

. Oversized and understaffed, in 1988 the hospital became a private, non-profit organization. In 1994, the State of New Jersey designated it as a regional trauma center, and in the late 1990s it was approved as a core teaching affiliate of Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Metrovest Equities was designated the redeveloper of the property in 2003 and officially closed on it in 2005. The developer converted the ten federally landmarked,

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

buildings in the largest residential restoration project in the country and the largest in the history of New Jersey, with an expected cost estimated at $350 million.

Use of existing infrastructure and restoration

The existing buildings are listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The first buildings to be renovated were the Rialto and Capitol buildings, which now serve as residential condominiums and entertainment spaces. The restoration of these two buildings alone was estimated over $133 million and it took over four years to complete. In 2009, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Historic Preservation Office awarded an Outstanding Contribution of Excellence Award to the contractors and architects and others who participated in the restoration of the Rialto and Capitol buildings.

Popular culture

Both the exterior and the interior of the building was used as a filming location for the 1994

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...

film ''

Quiz Show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...

'', depicts the

1950s quiz show scandals The 1950s quiz show scandals were a series of scandals involving the producers and contestants of several popular American television quiz shows. These shows' producers secretly gave assistance to certain contestants in order to prearrange the s ...

. Sections of the interior of Murdoch Hall were used because they resembled the art deco backdrop of Manhattan's Rockefeller Center where the game show ''

Twenty-One 21 (twenty-one) is the natural number following 20 and preceding 22. The current century is the 21st century AD, under the Gregorian calendar. In mathematics 21 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 3 and 7, and a deficie ...

'' was filmed. Approximately $25,000 was spent to renovate the neglected building in order to render it suitable for filming. Richard Price 1992

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

, '' Clockers'', makes a thinly veiled reference to the abandoned Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital on Clifton Place. A "chronicler of Hudson County's underbelly", Price describes how vandals stripped the hospital interior of artifacts to be sold for scrap.

References

External links

The Beacon Website
{{authority control Neighborhoods in Jersey City, New Jersey Buildings and structures in Jersey City, New Jersey Historic districts in Hudson County, New Jersey Residential skyscrapers in Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City Medical Center Works Progress Administration in New Jersey Apartment buildings in Jersey City, New Jersey Hospitals in Hudson County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Hospital buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Hudson County, New Jersey

History

Use of existing infrastructure and restoration

Popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links