Thanks to folks in the South Ward, we'll be hosting a community meeting at Mercer County Waterfront Park this Tuesday, Feb. 22, beginning at 7 p.m. We'll be sharing details of our project to restore the Delaware Inn, and will also talk about our plans for future educational programs. So drop by and introduce yourself, and let us introduce ourselves. No RSVP required.
When you come, enter to the left of the ticket windows.
Hope to see you there.
Trenton needs a gateway.
A river city since its founding, Trenton today needs a direct link back to the Delaware River. The City’s children need to experience the satisfaction of building a boat, the value of teamwork when sailing, the knowledge of what happens to the environment, the economy and the social structure when a city is built on the water’s edge.
Trenton needs a gateway where visitors can experience the city’s long history, examine its impact on the upper Delaware River, the drama of steamboat races, the brilliance of John Fitch and his steamboat, the first in America when it was launched in 1787.
Trenton needs a place that can be a home to research into its industrial and transportation history, that showcases its vitality through the years, that informs people locally, nationally, even internationally about the city’s role in the region’s development, from the 1700s through today.
That's why we're redeveloping the Delaware Inn.
The restoration and rehabilitation of the Delaware Inn will not simply create another museum. Instead, it will establish a multi-use building with community space, café, offices and exhibition space. With its location across from the recently opened South River Walk Park, the rehabilitation project will serve as a catalyst for the revival of the South Trenton waterfront and surrounding residential community.
Built in 1798, the Inn was a large tavern within the burgeoning river front community of Lamberton. Through the nineteenth century, it provided food, drink and lodging to the surrounding neighborhood. As Lamberton became more industrial with manufacturing plants and breweries, the clientele of the Delaware Inn changed from sailors and fishermen to factory workers. In 1942, after 150 years as a tavern, the Inn became the offices of a local brewing company in 1942. In 1986, with the decline of industry in Trenton, the brewery and the Delaware Inn were abandoned. However, as it has for over 200 years, the building remains a community landmark.
The Port of Trenton Museum has a ten-year lease and undertook a preservation plan and National Register Nomination in 2009-10. This plan is the basis for Phase I of the building’s rehabilitation, for which we are currently seeking funding and includes the essential work required to put the building back in use. It will return the exterior of the building to its earlier appearance, allow the building’s first and second floors to be opened for public use, specifically as a community gathering space and museum.
Stabilization of the exterior masonry and interior framing is currently being completed to ensure the building will remain standing until funding for the restoration is available.
Exterior work includes replacement with appropriate windows and t
he restoration of the two entrance doors on the main façade. The front entrance porch will be reconstructed, giving the Inn significant presence on the street and allow for construction of an accessible entry ramp. The rear framed tower story will be removed, the original roof line will be reconstructed. Underground utilities will be brought to the curb and inappropriate site features will be removed. The entire building will be painted.
During Phase I, interior rehabilitation will be limited to the first and second floors. The existing wood floor will be repaired and replaced. In most areas, the existing plaster will be repaired.
Exposed brick walls will remain. Where baseboards, window trim remains and fireplace openings remain, they will be restored. Where gone, new finishes will be installed. New doors will be installed. Essential building systems and lighting will be installed. The ground floor will be devoted to a café, community and exhibition space, while museum offices will occupy the second floor until additional funding allows for the restoration of the building’s remaining spaces. An addition will house accessible bathrooms.
Phase II of the Inn’s restoration will include rehabilitation of the building’s third floor and the expansion of the addition. At that time, offices will be moved to the third floor, leaving the second floor for public use. The installation of new building systems begun in Phase I also will be completed.
This phased approach allows for the Delaware Inn to begin operation as a public meeting space for the surrounding community and museum and to evolve and develop over time.
The Delaware Inn is intended to serve as a focus of local community activity, meetings and programs. The café will provide a gathering space for the community. The Inn’s restoration and rehabilitation is a critical focus for the revival of the South Trenton waterfront, an important facet of the City’s history that has largely been lost.
The Inn is adjacent to the South River Walk Park, which focuses on the history of Trenton and its connection to the Delaware River. Five arches of materials represent various eras of the city- from pre-revolutionary through the Industrial Revolution to the modern era-are complemented with granite markers highlighting important events. The Inn’s exhibits will mesh well with the park’s history-themed exhibits and the café will be a destination for South River Walk Park visitors.
The Trenton Times featured our efforts to renovate the Delaware Inn on Lambertville Street as the Port's new home:
Delaware Inn May Become Museum, Visitors Center
TRENTON — A look inside the Delaware Inn on Lamberton Street reveals little about the building’s illustrious history. The former tavern has become a dusty shell, its clientele replaced by opossums and squatters.
Mark Feffer is hoping to change all that.
Feffer is the president of The Port of Trenton Museum Foundation, an organization that recently signed a lease with the city to turn the Delaware Inn into a museum and visitors center.
“There are an awful lot of things about the city’s waterfront that people just don’t know,” Feffer said. “We want to tell those stories.”
The Port of Trenton Museum Foundation was formed to develop a series of educational, outreach and research efforts that tell the story of Trenton as a marine and rail transportation center.
Over the next few years, we hope to create our own body of work in cooperation with the numerous organizations that have spent years researching and exhibiting information on the city and its industrial history, its transportation system and the Delaware River ecosystem. Ultimately, we hope to establish a center where historians, social scientists and others can conduct research on subjects related to Trenton, Mercer County, the State of New Jersey, as well as the port itself, the Delaware River, and transportation and urban history.
As an independent not-fot-profit (501C3) corporation, we work with government, private businesses and other organizations to promote the use of the Trenton's waterfront as a cultural, recreational and educational environment, as well as historical-tourism destination.
If you haven't been to Trenton, come visit. You'll be surprised at the jewels you'll find here.
Mr. David A. Byers
Manager, Landscape & Urban Design
N.J. Department of Transportation
(Retired)
Mr. Mark Feffer (Board President)
Managing Editor
Dice Holdings
Mr. Samuel Frisby (Vice President)
Mr. Richard Hunter
President
Hunter Research
Mr. Frank J. Lucchesi
Regional Public Affairs Manager
PSE&G
Mr. Scot Pannepacker (Secretary/Treasurer)
Partner
Lear & Pannepacker
Mr. Will Smith
General Manager
The Trenton Thunder
Mr. Joe Wiley
Chief Operating Officer
Sadat Associates
Standing forlornly on Lamberton Street facing the South River Walk Park is an abandoned three-story brick building that is one of the few tangible links to Trenton’s early history as a port city. This is the Delaware Inn, also known as the Red Tavern (for its red brick exterior), built in 1798 to cater to raftsmen, stevedores, fishermen and local residents of the port community of Lamberton. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the building served as both a hotel and as a private residence; in 1942 it was converted into the main office for the neighboring Champale brewery.
Now owned by the City of Trenton and designated as a city landmark, the Delaware Inn awaits a new life as the home of the Port of Trenton Museum, a hub for the Lamberton community, and a centerpiece of the proposed residential redevelopment of the Champale site. As one of the city’s most critical heritage tourism assets, the building is also a natural supplement to the South River Walk Park, a new riverfront amenity that celebrates Trenton’s rich and varied history.
The Port of Trenton Museum Foundation was recently awarded a $50,000 grant by the New Jersey Historic Trust, matched in part by the City of Trenton, which will allow plans for the restoration and adaptive reuse of the building to be developed by the Princeton-based architectural firm of Holt Morgan Russell. The aim is to preserve the building and create space for museum exhibits, offices, a community meeting room, and a sandwich shop. The property will also be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, further increasing awareness of its historical importance.
In the coming years, the Port of Trenton Museum Foundation will be raising funds for the actual restoration of the Delaware Inn and the reintroduction of this valuable building into the local community. Contact us (info@portoftrenton.org) if you would like to become involved and lend assistance.
