On December 16, public officials and film industry executives took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the 1888 Studios, the motion picture and television production complex that will rise at the foot of Avenue A in Bayonne.  The event took place inside a tent on the studio construction site, the former location of the Texaco refinery that closed in the 1980s. The new facility will include 23 soundstages on 58 acres.  More than one million square feet of building space will be constructed.  The construction phase is expected to produce 2,300 union jobs for the building trades.  When the facility is complete and operational, it is expected to produce 2,000 union jobs.  Paramount has already signed an agreement for a ten-year lease for a major portion of the 1888 Studios.

            Speaking about Bayonne at the ceremony, Arpad (Arki) Busson, the President of the 1888 Studios, said that the production complex “will reshape the city for generations to come” and would make Bayonne “a global connector.”  Mr. Busson thanked Mayor Jimmy Davis for making Bayonne “a most welcome place to do business.”

            Paramount’s Global Operations executive, Jose Turkienicz, said that his company will lease 285,000 square feet of space at the 1888 Studios. He called the studio complex “a major step forward” and a source of “creative momentum.”   A former New Jersey resident, Mr. Turkienicz, thanked the state’s public officials for supporting tax credit programs for the film industry in the Garden State.  He said that the 1888 Studios were “building a future.”