CAMDEN - On a site once occupied by a methadone clinic and abandoned buildings, state and local officials celebrated the opening Tuesday of a medical school in Camden that was 40 years in the making.

MITSU YASUKAWA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Governor Christie and George E. Norcross III, chairman of Cooper Board of Trustees, examine their scissors before the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

MITSU YASUKAWA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University

As you take a walk around this beautiful building today, you can see the community is changing, state Sen. Donald Norcross, D-Camden, whose father first envisioned the school four decades ago. In addition to that, its changing lives.

The dedication of Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, where Governor Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, helped cut the ribbon, carried with it hope for a city that has the highest crime rate in the nation.

Camden Mayor Dana Redd said this was one of many steps that is leading to the citys long-awaited resurgence.

Im really overjoyed, she said. Im really overwhelmed at what has transpired here in our city. I want to thank our partners who are helping Camden move forward. Christie praised the opening of the school as another example of what can be done when partisan politics is put aside.

The folks who will come through here and learn here and then come and serve this community will be an ongoing example, a legacy, for all of us who played some small part in making it happen, he said.

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Christie, officials dedicate opening of new medical school at Rowan University