Why It Matters
The Museum will become a year-round cultural destination dedicated to preserving and celebrating the city’s rich 150+ year history. This permanent home will allow the Museum to:
- Expand cultural tourism beyond the boardwalk
- Showcase and display important artifacts
- Create interactive exhibits and listening stations
- Host educational and community programming
- Support economic growth along Springwood Avenue
- Strengthen community identity and pride
Campaign Components & Needs
The museum will cover the diverse history of Asbury Park including the evolution of the music genres which grew from Asbury Park’s West Side going back to 1871.
The Museum’s 1,400 square feet ground floor exhibit space will include display panels, display cases, listening stations, video monitors and interactive kiosks.
Funding needs also include software design, production, installation and engineering support.
Capital Campaign Sponsorship Levels
- Visionary Founder $100,000
- Legacy Leader $50,000
- Gallery Guardian $25,000
- Heritage Steward $10,00
- Community Champion $5,000
- Exhibit Partner $1,000
- Museum Supporter $500
- Friend of the Museum $100
- Museum Contributor $20-$99
Donors will be recognized on the Museum’s website. Those contributing $500 or more will also be featured on the Museum’s Donor Wall.
Naming opportunities begin at $25,000, with additional sponsorship opportunities available for the Museum’s 2027 opening exhibition, Asbury Park Through the Decades.
History
The Museum was organized in 2018 and established a temporary presence on the boardwalk in the winter of 2018/19.
Since 2021, the Museum has produced annual rotating exhibitions at The Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel, where exhibits are accessible to the public seven days a week. These exhibits have explored the city’s multicultural heritage, musical legacy, architecture, business community, waterfront history, and the individuals and movements that shaped Asbury Park over the past 150+ years.
Other locations for the museum’s displays have included the Asbury Park Public Library, the Guggenheim Library at Monmouth University and Guyot Hall at Princeton University.
Programs & Achievements
The museum’s exhibits beginning 2021
- More Than A Beach Town: The Commercial Rise of
Asbury Park, Parts 1 and Part 2 - Asbury Park, 150 Years of Change and Transformation:
A Segregated Seashore - Trailblazing Women of Asbury Park, 1870s to 1970s
- One Voice is Not Enough: Asbury Park’s Music
Diversity Since 1871 - Be Our Guest: The Golden Era of Asbury Park Hotels
- Edge of the Waters: From the Lenape “Scheyichbi” to
Bradley’s Founding of Asbury Park - Limited run exhibit Commemorating the 90th
Anniversary of the S.S. Morro Castle Ship Disaster
