Restored Loew’s Jersey Theatre holds ribbon-cutting ahead of Friday reopening
The historic venue's reopening ceremony will honor preservation efforts and launch a new era of live entertainment.
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A ribbon-cutting was held Monday for the newly restored Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Jersey City, ahead of the historic venue's first shows Friday.
The theater in Journal Square opened in September 1929 as a movie house and later became a performance venue. After years of disrepair and closures, a $130 million restoration project and the efforts of community groups have brought the theater back. Friends of the Loew’s formed in the early 1990s to stop plans to demolish the building, and the city bought it in 1993.
General Manager Bruce Wheeler said the work was done down to the last detail.
“The restoration is just meticulous. And the over 1,000 craftsmen and tradesmen that came through the building, you know, were quested with really trying to restore the theater back to its original grandeur. So it’s about the colors being what they were originally. The tapestries on the walls, the carpeting, all of those are really an homage to what was here almost 100 years ago,” Wheeler said.
The venue can hold about 4,000 people across seating and standing room. It is set up for concerts, comedy, film screenings and other events.
Opening weekend begins Friday, Nov. 13, with the Trey Anastasio Band. The War on Drugs performs Saturday, Nov. 14. Derek Hough’s “Dance for the Holidays” is scheduled for Dec. 8.
The goal is for the theater to again be the centerpiece of Journal Square for generations to come.
“It’s really all about returning the space to the community and making sure that they have a place to come in and enjoy,” Wheeler said.
