As the news was first broken here on FAA News, Mark Tress of Lakewood Study Square Inc. recently purchased the First Presbyterian Christian church, which has been iconically standing on 3rd Street in Downtown Lakewood for the past 155 years, for $4,150,000.
Mayor Ray Coles today told the Lakewood Development Corporation that Mr. Tress has requested a $250-300,000 UEZ funds grant to repair and repurpose the building.
The plan is to use the building for multiple purposes including to return the use of a child care center which was previously closed down at this location, as well as to use the building as a meeting place for seniors who are still trying to find meaningful work despite being semi-retired.
The proposed $250-300,000 grant would be used to redo the outside facade as well as fix up the interior.
Mayor Coles noted that "we have lots of money and not many people asking for the money," and that the Township has in the past provided grants for upgrading downtown building facade.
The LDC unanimously consented to allow Mr. Tress to return to the Board with a formal proposal for his project.
The First Presbyterian Christian church is one of Lakewood's first Christian congregations, having gotten started in 1868 after the Civil War, back when Lakewood (then known as Bricksburg) was a rural town known for iron production.
The current building was completed in 1884 and it has been standing there ever since.
Lakewood's first Orthodox Jewish community was organized in the early 1900's. Congregation Sons of Israel, (now known as The Old Shul) at Ridge Avenue and 4th Street, built in 1908, is the first known shul in the Township, according to the Lakewood Historical Society archives.
To join a FAA WhatsApp Group, click here.
To join the FAA WhatsApp Status, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment