The building housed New Jersey’s first J. C. Penney store. The store opened in 1924 and utilized part of an existing building that was enlarged for Penney’s. Parts of the building may be nineteenth century based on the heavy timber construction and use of tin ceilings and walls.  

The Trust grant will help fund the final two phases of a five-phase project to rehabilitate the former J. C. Penney Store into a training center for teaching building trades. These last two phases include MEP work and interior finishes. The 2017 Trust grant helped fund electrical and mechanical work as well as wood repairs as part of a larger rehabilitation of the building.  

For more information, visit: https://www.standupforsalem.org/