HCCC growing up and reaching out

A new culinary arts center in Jersey City and a North Hudson campus office to be built above a light rail station in Union City are just a few of the projects included in a capital investment plan recently announced by Hudson County Community College officials.

The Jersey City-based college - which has bought and renovated several properties around the main campus in Journal Square - plans to spend $148 million over the next 10 years, officials said. The construction tab would be split evenly by the county and state, they said.

"These are wise investments," Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise said after the April 20 announcement. "Who else has been developing Journal Square?"

Noting that job growth surged in Hudson County during the 1980s, DeGise added, "Along with the responsibility of job creation is the responsibility to train people to fill these jobs."

The $25 million headquarters for the school's well-regarded culinary arts program is already under way.

A new addition to the existing building should be completed next month, officials said. At that point, students will be shifted to the new building and the old structure will be renovated. When completed next year, the new center will feature six teaching kitchens, a conference facility, and will accommodate 450 culinary/hospitality students, officials said.

Calling the announcement an "historic moment," college President Glen Gabert added in regard to the new culinary arts building, "It is the next step in our ongoing effort to make the Culinary Arts Institute recognized nationally and internationally for excellence."

Roughly $3.2 million is earmarked for demolition and land acquisition for the planned North Hudson campus 48th Street and Kennedy Boulevard, officials said.

Ultimately, a four-story 85,000-square-foot structure will be built at the site, said John Capazzi, an architect working on the project. The college has applied for a federal grant to build a 12,000-square-foot connection to the NJ Transit Light Rail Bergenline Station on 49th Street, he said.

Over the next 10 years, the 6,000-student two-year institution plans to build two parking structures sufficient to accommodate 800 cars, acquire and renovate the three-story Jones Building on Sip Avenue, and construct a 61,000-square-foot science building on Sip Avenue near Tonnelle Avenue.

Officials also plan to spend $600,000 to thematically link the college's Journal Square offices with new signage featuring the Statue of Liberty.