18-03-2025
See construction of Bruce Springsteen Archives at Monmouth University
LONG BRANCH -- The steel frame is up and the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music is starting to take shape.
The eventual two-story archives, which will pay homage to the music icon who was born in the city in 1949, is expected to open in spring 2026, according to a Monmouth University spokesperson and what the archive's staff has posted on its social media platforms.
However, curious members of the public can view its progress daily via a new live webcam planted at the construction site. The archive's website is also up and is where the public can tune in to a monthly webcast hosted by curator Melissa Ziobro. The next broadcast is 7 p.m. March 19, titled "Making the Scene in the Garden State."
When completed, the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music building will be 36 feet tall, 74 feet wide, 206 feet long and boast multiple exhibit spaces, state-of-the-art archives, a 250-seat Dolby soundstage and gift shop. It will be similar to the museums dedicated to folk singers Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
What's coming: See the Bruce Springsteen Archives building approved for Monmouth University
Monmouth University estimates the museum will attract 40,000 to 50,000 visitors annually. The visitors are expected to be researchers, school tours and fans in general.
The archives will house collected papers, oral histories, journals and music that help tell the story and the creative process of not just Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band but other American music greats as well.
The building was designed by Rick Cook of CookFox Architects based in New York City. Cook designed the building with weathered steel and heavy timber to give it a Jersey Shore boardwalk look and feel. It will be surrounded by a wildflower meadow that will make to appear as if it is floating above the meadow. The building will have several large glass windows to let in the natural light.
It will be built at the corner of Cedar and Norwood avenues, across the street from Monmouth University's Great Hall at Shadow Lawn and the Guggenheim Mansion, the university's two marquee historic pieces. While most of Monmouth University's campus sits in West Long Branch, the archives are in Long Branch.
Springsteen was born at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, but he was raised in Freehold. He did return to Long Branch in the mid-1970s and rented a cottage in the city's West End, where he wrote his breakthrough album "Born to Run." The cottage at 7½ West End Court still stands.
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When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him: dradel@
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen Archives at Monmouth University under construction
