Tag Archives: Irving Street
City purchases $90k piano for conservatory
The City Council on Monday night approved $90,000 for the purchase of a handmade Italian piano as part of the plan to establish the Klavierhause Piano Conservatory. The council entered into a contract with Piano Culture Institutional Consultants at Klavierhaus “for the purchase of a Fazioli Pianoforti F-228 (photo below) to enhance the Arts District Expansion Project.”
The piano retails for $140,000, according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier, but the city will pay $90,000, with “another source outside of the municipal tax base” that will contribute $5,000. The piano will be on loan to the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) and can be moved for performances at the planned amphitheater as well as the arts center.
The bank building adjacent to UCPAC (on the corner of Coach Street) will be retrofitted to house the Klavierhaus Piano Conservatory, which will offer a variety of recitals, lessons, performances and more “with special emphasis given to young people.” The Edge art gallery nearby is being eyed for a satellite sales office for Klavier, where it could feature console pianos, according to Mayor James Kennedy.
A world-class piano brings an interesting component of a respectable art form, Kennedy said, and it shows that city is serious about the arts, especially to funders like the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
The piano will attract internationally renowned pianists that have chosen Fazioli pianos in concert halls, conservatories, theaters and recording studios to perform and record their performances for the public to attend, according to Pelissier. “This is one component that will be a tremendous asset for the UCPAC to provide for and make Rahway a distinct destination of the arts,” he said.
A ceremony to celebrate the piano’s arrival will be Sunday, Feb. 21, at 4 p.m. at the UPCAC Studio Theatre, featuring Russian-born pianist Vassily Primakov.
Asked how a $90,000 purchase for a piano could be justified as property taxes rise, Pelissier described it as an investment in the arts district and the city’s overall redevelopment plans, not unlike the county’s $6-million purchase and renovation of UCPAC, construction of the library and recreation center, and renovation of Train Station Plaza.
“Municipalities that have concert halls have testified that the monies that come in to their respective towns and cities are in the millions resulting from parking fees, spending in restaurants, etc.,” Pelissier said. “In as much, as redevelopment has slowed down with the exception of a few projects, the arts initiatives set forth by the mayor will not only attract people to Rahway, it will continue to attract redevelopers to our city when the economic market returns. Our city will be ready.”
‘Eye candy’ planned for downtown areas
In a post-State of the City interview last month and a public presentation before the Redevelopment Agency last week, Mayor James Kennedy talked about murals and sculptures scattered around the downtown loop as part of an overall plan focusing on the arts. He described the visual arts piece as a complement to performing arts initiatives such as the amphitheater and black box theater planned for Hamilton Street and gallery space in the YMCA and Elizabethtown Gas building. The “eye candy,” as the mayor describes it, is expected by mid-summer.
As examples, Kennedy noted the walkway connecting Main Street and the parking lot behind River Place as an ideal spot for a mural or a sculpture, in addition to some areas connecting Hotel Indigo to the Lewis Stree
t parking deck. “The whole arts picture has been growing in many pieces that ultimately is coming together now,” he said.
A committee will determine about two dozen quirky spots downtown for sculptures, which then would be cataloged into a booklet for a sort of sculpture garden. The city would be responsible for the footings but artists would cover the cost of their own sculptures. “The advantage to artists is not that they’re paying for their own sculpture but the advantage is that it gives them exposure and exhibition space,” Kennedy said.
Another program will copy what was done in Ithaca, N.Y., where The Sagan Planet Walk at Sciencenter pays homage to the Rahway native and noted Cornell astronomer. A scale model of the solar system would station planets at specific locations between City Hall and the Arts Guild. The program also would incorporate the high school physics program, the mayor said, while the educational piece would include brass descriptions of the technical data about the size and composition of planets. The sculptures would be to scale so some might be as small as a tennis ball while others might be much larger.
“The neat thing is that it brings a sense of community, it’s a something-to-do kind of thing,” Kennedy said, adding that these initiatives aim to create a pleasant atmosphere but also catch the attention of passersby.
A third aspect of the visual arts piece is a window treatment program like one that was done for the Carriage City Plaza sales office. People looking into the windows can see the image or art while those on the inside can clearly see outside. Rather than have paper covering up vacant storefronts, Kennedy said the city also is trying to encourage empty stores to allow the space for use by artists until they are leased.
Concerts the clear choice for arts center
So judging by the most recent blog poll, y’all want concerts at the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC).
The question becomes what kinds of concerts are you most interested in? Obviously, UCPAC has plenty of concerts throughout the season, but what kinds of concerts would you prefer? There’s also the question of what two voters consider to be “other.” Magic shows?
With now more than 250 readers subscribing by email and the average number of daily visitors creeping toward 200, I thought for sure we’d hit triple digits on the number of votes. After posting it, I realized I could’ve been a little more creative and added more options. I blame myself mostly; I just copied what we used in the last UCPAC poll. We could have added some other offerings, like kids’ shows or dance, for instance.
“What would you like to see at the Union County Performing Arts Center?”
Concerts, 43 percent (22/51 votes)
Comedy, 23 percent (12/51)
Movies, 19 percent (10/51)
Plays/Musicals, 9 percent (5/51)
Other, 4 percent (2/51)
Results weren’t radically different from when we asked this poll question two years ago, but for about twice as many votes and a more decisive margin for concerts.
Woodruff Building changes hands for $775k
Irving Street market expands
The market is next door to a building that’s undergoing renovation where a new bar and restaurant is planned, The Station Bar & Grill.
David Drake closes, plans new location…?
A sign in the window of the Irving Street eatery reads:
“Restaurant David Drake has closed. Look for the NEW Restaurant David Drake in the spring in a new location. We would like to thank all of our local customers for all of their support over the years. We look forward to welcoming you back later this year.”
It’s unclear whether that new location will be in Rahway
. I haven’t been able to find out much more since Tweeting about it Thursday but Drake told New Jersey Monthly‘s Table Hopping with Rosie yesterday: “I’m not sure what is going to happen, or not happen. It may reopen in the near future but perhaps as Bistro David Drake. We shall see because I’m totally focusing on doing good things at Alice’s in Lake Hopatcong right now.”
Thanks to reader Mark C. who emailed the heads-up on Thursday. Way to crowdsource!
State of the City 2010
Mayor James Kennedy focused almost exclusively on the arts during his State of City remarks at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.