Two weeks after Richard K. Rein’s October 10 opus on “How Trenton ‘Won’ Amazon’s HQ2,” the promise and problems of the city continue to be discussed. Last week at the Princeton Chamber’s breakfast at the Nassau Club, architectural historian Clifford Zink, former director of the Trenton Roebling Community Development Corporation, offered suggestions for ways the business community could help the capital city.
One way would be to hold an event at the restored Roebling Wireworks, which last year was the setting for a Westminster Choir College presentation, “Anthracite Fields.” It has also been used for a wedding reception. Young employees moving into the area could be introduced to the residential possibilities in refurbished industrial buildings, such as the Roebling Lofts. The Hispanic restaurateurs who have taken over the Chambersburg venues made famous by the Italian American community are ready for adventurous diners ready to try something new.
Zink pointed out that Mercer County Community College has established a “beachhead” on South Broad Street in the heart of Trenton’s downtown. The college is looking for partners in several different initiatives. At the end of the presentation, Dor Mullen, head of the nutritional eating program called Suppers, explained she is trying to expand her program from Princeton to Trenton, but needs an approved commercial kitchen in which to work. On cue, Jianping Wang, Mercer’s president, jumped to her feet: “We have a kitchen.”
More good news: U.S. 1 received only two calls from readers asking us to clarify the headline, in which the word “won” was in quotation marks and was above a caption that declared that Trenton did not even make Amazon’s short list of 20 cities. But the proposal has sparked some positive discussion. We count that as a win.
