Union City Mayor and Sen. Brian P. Stack and the city Board of Commissioners have scheduled a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the William V. Musto Cultural Center located at 420 - 15th Street on June 11 at 1 p.m.

The center is named for the former beloved mayor who was convicted of federal racketeering charges in 1982.

It is the first Museum of Art in Union City.



The building was previously the home of the 15th Street Free Public Library; a historic Carnegie Endowed Library built in 1903.



The refurbished Cultural Center will house the Union City Museum of Art, the Union City Police Museum, the Union City Art Gallery & Concert Hall, the Union City Museum of History, as well as serve as a Senior Citizen Center.



The very first permanent art exhibit will be by a select group of some of the best and best known local artists in the city, who are also members of the Union City Artist Collect.

Musto became a city official after serving as an officer in WWII with General George Patton. He earned a Bronze Star.

A lawyer, he became a state legislator with great influence in Trenton, serving in the Assembly, from 1947 to 1966, and in the Senate, from 1966 to 1982. He was mayor from 1962 to 1970 and 1974 to 1982.

His political career ended essentially after his 1982 conviction of racketeering for helping mobsters and contractors siphon off federal funds from an expansion project of the city's two high schools.

Musto was so popular in Union City that the day after his conviction, he was re-elected to office but forced to step down.

Loyal followers, many from within the state's large Cuban population, insisted he was innocent. Musto had been one of the first legislators who pushed for bilingual education and one of the first to hire and promote Hispanic residents in numbers.

Among his proteges was Robert Menendez, who is today a powerful U.S. senator. Menendez had testified for the prosecution in Musto's federal trial.

Musto died in 2006 at age 88.

His wife, Rhyta, is expected to attend the dedication ceremony.