$60M In Upgrades At Essex County College Campus In West Caldwell

CALDWELLS, NJ — A county college campus in the Caldwells has been reborn.

Last week, several officials and dignitaries including Gov. Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony at Essex County College’s new satellite campus on Bloomfield Avenue in West Caldwell.

The new campus – which replaced a 1920s-era elementary school building formerly located at the site – includes a 51,700-square-foot school building, a synthetic grass surface soccer field, and a 325-car parking garage.

Essex County officials provided some details about the new campus:

“The new four-story building provides space to complement the current curriculum offered by the college and is designed with flexibility to accommodate any changes that may arise in the future. It includes space for classrooms, labs, an information center, the ECC Skilled and Technical Science Academy and multi-purpose halls. Also on the site is a synthetic grass surface soccer field and parking garage. The field will serve as the home field for the Essex County College soccer program and the Essex County West Caldwell School of Technology soccer teams. It also will be available for local recreation programs to use.”

The building, soccer field and parking deck cost about $60 million to build, officials said. Work on the project began in August 2021 and took about 24 months to complete.

According to county officials, Essex County College is using school construction grants to help pay for the new campus: the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act and the Building Our Future Bond Act. Funds also are being provided from the state of New Jersey, the Essex County capital budget and the Essex County Schools of Technology District.

“This is a gem of an institution,” Murphy said, praising the upgrades.

“We have great community colleges in our state, but no one does it better than Essex County,” the governor added.

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