Construction is finished on the $130 million restoration of Loew’s Jersey Theatre at 54 Journal Square Plaza in Journal Square, Jersey City. Originally designed by Rapp & Rapp and opened in 1929 as one of the five Loew’s Wonder Theatres, the movie palace has been rehabilitated by OTJ Architects under a partnership between the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, with Phelps Construction Group overseeing construction. The venue will operate with flexible configurations for approximately 2,600 seated guests or 4,000 standing, making it Jersey City’s largest entertainment venue.
The restoration rehabilitated the entry vestibule, grand lobby, orchestra foyer, auditorium and stage, grand stairs, mezzanine foyer, and upper balcony foyer, retaining the Spanish Baroque and Italian Rococo detailing of the 1929 design. The orchestra level has been re-raked with removable tiered platforms that can be configured for seated shows or cleared for general admission, and the building received new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, and new audiovisual equipment. Off the Record Collective handled interiors for the artist and backstage spaces.
All work was reviewed by the Jersey City Historic Preservation Commission, the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office, and the National Park Service in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Rehabilitation of Historic Structures.
Image via Loew’s Jersey Theater.
The reopening caps a four-decade preservation saga. The theater was carved into a triplex cinema in 1974 and closed in August 1986, when Hartz Mountain Industries acquired the property with plans to demolish it. A grassroots campaign led by the newly formed Friends of the Loew’s pushed Jersey City to purchase the building in 1993 for $325,000, and volunteers spent years restoring it, partially reopening the auditorium in 2001.
The city leased the theater to HBSE subsidiary Devils Arena Entertainment in February 2021, when the renovation was pegged at $72 million; the figure climbed to $105 million by mid-2023 before reaching $130 million. The project was aided by a $42.27 million NJEDA tax credit issued in 2022, the year the theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and by $1.78 million from Hudson County’s Open Space Trust Fund. The venue is expected to host roughly 150 events annually.
Loew’s Jersey Theatre’s remaining restoration elements, including the front lobby chandelier, organ, and movie screens, are slated to return in 2027, as announced by the theater’s general manager.
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