NEW YORK — Bruce Springsteen’s born in the U.S.A. and now, a new exhibition space devoted to his life and work will open in a New Jersey firehouse.
A joint project of Freehold Borough and the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch was announced on Tuesday at the Freehold Fire Department building, which will house the exhibition space.
“Everything I learned of deep importance, I learned in this town,” the 72-year-old Grammy Award-winning Rock & Roll Hall of Famer said during an onsite press conference. “You learn most of what makes you who you are by the time you are ... by the time you’re 12, maybe; maybe your teen years. I had all the usual joy and heartbreak of growing up in a small town like this, and of course the minute the opportunity arose — I got the hell out.”
“I suppose the unusual thing is that moving around the world as I did, or I do, I always came back,” he continued. “To this day, I spend quite a bit of money and time trying to figure out what I keep coming back for, and so far, there is no answer. I will let you know as things go on.”
Dubbed “My Hometown: The Bruce Springsteen Story Center,” the space will include artifacts, photographs and displays featuring concert footage and interviews, according to an official press release.
Town historian Kevin Coyne curated and programmed the exhibition along with other community members.
“The central idea behind the Freehold project is to tell the story of Bruce Springsteen as a writer, a storyteller and as a chronicler of America, and how his story and the story of his hometown intertwine to tell the larger story of this country,” Coyne said in a statement.
The exhibit is expected to open in mid-2024; the Fire Department will be relocated as part of the town’s redevelopment plan.
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