Barrow Mansion Development Corporation

A wreath decorating workshop at the Barrow Mansion. A man wearing an apron is holding up a ribbon, demonstrating how to make a custom bow. Behind him are several long tables, each with about three people at them. The tables hold wreaths, pine cones, flowers, and other decorations.

Barrow Mansion wreath decorating workshop

The Barrow Mansion Development Corporation (BMDC) is a nonprofit 501(c)3 founded in 1984 for the purpose of restoring, preserving, and operating the Barrow Mansion, which includes promoting its use as a community center.

Since its inception, the BMDC has raised and invested over $1.75 million in the Barrow Mansion’s renovation. A majority of these funds came from grants from the New Jersey Historic Trust and the City of Jersey City Community Development Block Grant [CDBG] program, with additional funding from the Warhol Foundation. These grants afforded extensive reconstructive work including new electrical wiring, plumbing, air conditioning, roofing, fire protection, and large-scale structural repairs, as well as significant additions to make the building ADA-compliant.

Under the leadership of the BMDC, the Barrow Mansion functions as a community space in Jersey City. For almost a generation, the Barrow Mansion has been a beacon for the recovery community. More than 40,000 visitors come through its doors annually, attending more than 1,300 meetings of neighborhood and 12-step groups – an average of four meetings per day, every day of the year. 

Immediately after Superstorm Sandy, the Barrow Mansion became the headquarters for a city-wide relief effort that raised and distributed almost $1.35 million in goods and services to those in need, especially those whose homes had been devastated.

The BMDC also works to promote Jersey City artists through free concerts, its Salon Program, art shows, poetry readings, and musical education seminars. The organization is continually looking for ways to be useful to the broad and diverse community that makes Jersey City such a vibrant and compelling place to live.