Tag Archives: Arts District

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Fundraising aims to boost arts center lineup

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A $150,000 fundraising effort to target more high-profile programming at the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) has commitments of at least $90,000 as of last month. Mayor James Kennedy said the board of trustees at its last meeting gave approval to the executive director to pursue a handful of performances.

“It’s designed to have a decent rate of return to put on performances,” he said during a brief interview following his State of the City address this month.

There have been some additional verbal commitments for fundraising and other possibilities as well, the mayor said during a follow-up interview last week.

The center’s board is leaning toward musical performances and with several new board members, “there’s a new level of energy you can feel,” Kennedy said, adding that there’s been a recent emphasis on new board development.

Perhaps it’s time to bring back an old poll question, “What would you like to see at the Union County Performing Arts Center?” If you can believe it, it’s been two years (!) since we posed that question, with but a couple dozen faithful readers responding. Then there was this poll from April 2008 after UCPAC renovations were completed, which seemed to present a recurring theme among RR readers: Improve the programming. So…

“What would you like to see at the Union County Performing Arts Center?”

  • Concerts
  • Standup comedy
  • Plays/musicals
  • Movies
  • Other

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City Council

State of the City 2010

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Mayor James Kennedy focused almost exclusively on the arts during his State of City remarks at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

Continue reading State of the City 2010 →

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Board to consider concept plans presented for amphitheater and black box theater

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A committee of the Arts District Advisory Board will review concept plans for projects at the Hamilton Laundry and Bell Building sites. City Engineer James Housten will present plans this week in preparation for developing cost estimates on the two projects.

Housten told Redevelopment Agency commissioners at their meeting this month that a report is expected shortly on the monitoring wells currently on the Hamilton Laundry site. Soil from some areas likely will need to be moved, he added.

Bids to demolish the home adjacent to the Hamilton Laundry site should be introduced at the January City Council meeting and approved in February, he said.

The Bell Building (photo above) might actually catch up and pass the Hamilton Laundry project depending on environmental remediation, Housten said, adding that environmental issues already taken care of at the Bell Building site.

A 1,000-seat amphitheater at the former Hamilton Laundry site is expected to break ground next year while a black box theater and performing arts space is planned for the Bell Building. The Hamilton Laundry project is among eight sites in Rahway eligible for state funding as a Brownfield Development Area.

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Catching up on some reading

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I’m a little late with this but in case you missed last Sunday’s Ledger, here’s their story about Union County home sales in the first half of 2009. It was a county-by-county breakdown of a larger project, “N.J. real estate bust hits urban home sales the hardest.”

Compared to the first half of 2008, “prices dipped 8 percent” in Union County, with only Elizabeth, Fanwood and Springfield seeing more home sales during the first half of this year compared to the same time in 2008. Berkeley Heights (0%) and Scotch Plains (7%) were the lone towns to see median home prices remain the same or rise over last year, and nine towns saw double-digit declines. Only Summit (2%) was up last year over 2005 median prices.

For Rahway, the analysis indicated a median price of $267,000 this year, compared to $307,500 last year (-13%) and $281,000 in 2005 (-5%). Those figures were still good enough to rank Rahway among the top third among the 21 Union County towns in both years, matching Clark and Mountainside in 2008.

The number of home sales was down 18 percent in Rahway for the first half of this year, which was about the ninth lowest rate within the county.

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I also came across this New York Times piece yesterday. It talked about “municipal governments and arts groups pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into larger, flashier exhibit spaces and performance halls,” believing it was “the answer to what ailed cities everywhere — a way to lure tourists and economic development — and a potential boon to cultural institutions.”

The specific projects mentioned are of a much larger scale and in some cases very different, but it did bring to mind the $6-million expansion and acquisition of the local arts center by Union County, which also was pushed in part by the idea of spurring economic development earlier this decade.

The most provocative quote came from a senior fellow at the University of Chicago studying these projects: “These were situations in which ‘nobody actually asked: Is there a need here? If they build it, will they come?'”

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Commercial, Downtown, Rahway

After many months, dessert cafe opens

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The windows are no longer covered and there was some activity as I drove home along Irving Street last night: InTheMix dessert cafe is open.

We first reported in May that the cafe would be coming to the corner of Irving and West Main streets and it finally opened last night. It’s been almost a year since a photo and camera shop left the 1,200-square-foot space.

If anyone pays a visit to InTheMix, let us know what you think.

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Architect hired for amphitheater, Bell Building

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City Council approved two contracts last week for an architectural firm to prepare a conceptual design and cost estimate for the Hamilton Street amphitheater and black box theater and dance studio planned at the Bell Building.

Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects of Princeton received both contracts, $65,000 for the amphitheater and $49,000 for the Bell Building. City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said at last week’s council meeting that cost estimates would be necessary before moving forward with construction. The project is scheduled to break ground, and be completed, during 2010.

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Thanks to everyone who came out to The Waiting Room on Friday night for our first official, informal happy hour. I wasn’t sure what kind of turnout to expect but we had upward of 20 people at one time and commandeered a couple tables. It was a nice mix of old and new faces and I had a great time. Next time we’ll plan a little better, but there definitely will be a next time, perhaps some time after the holidays. And I’m always up for suggestions on where and when to have it.

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Apartments, Arts District, Downtown, restaurants

KC Jazz redesigns, eyes 2010 for opening

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KC Jazz restaurant has its sights set on 2010 for an opening.

Developer Casey Granieri said in an email last month that the project is going out to bid after a redesign to lower the cost. Any changes will be in materials and roof modification, he said, and if everything gets done in a timely manner it will open next year.

During last month’s Redevelopment Agency meeting, Redevelopment Director and City Administrator Peter Pelissier mentioned that a developer with experience in Newark’s Ironbound section was brought in to help with the changes while there also were some financing details to iron out. The former Kelly’s Pub building, at the corner of Seminary Avenue and Irving Street, gained Planning Board approval in July 2007.

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It looks like there’s a comfortable lead for Friday to be the day for a Rahway Rising happy hour. If no one has any objections, why don’t we call it 6 p.m. at The Waiting Room this Friday (Nov. 13). See you there!

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