Tag Archives: Union County Performing Arts Center

Arts District, Downtown, Rahway

Rahway gets ready for its close-up

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In an effort to market the city, Rahway plans to run cable advertisements later this year.

City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier told the Redevelopment Agency at its meeting last week that commissioners would be able to offer their input before a report is finalized. He met with Comcast last week to begin developing a series of professional ads to promote the downtown, invite young people to move to Rahway and showcase what it has to offer downtown – like the train station and Union County Performing Arts Center – and beyond.

Pelissier estimated the cost of the promotional campaign would be $25,000 to $30,000 and come from this year’s municipal budget, which will be up for final approval at Monday night’s City Council meeting. “It will be absolutely worth every penny,” he said, adding that production of the ads would begin by the spring, with broadcasts soon after.

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A study released Friday indicates that the state’s Transit Village designation (which Rahway has), “is helpful, but not necessary” for towns to see an increase in property values, according to a report on nj.com. Those towns that saw the most property value increases were ones with “a commitment for mixed-used developments around the train station.”

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Arts District

A cautionary tale for arts-based redevelopment?

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An effort started in the 1980s and ’90s by downtown merchants to encourage people to shop there, centered around a renovated 1930s-era performing arts center. Loft housing for artists created with the help of tax dollars and a new zoning category to allow live-work rental properties. Sound familiar? No, it’s not Rahway.

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Apartments, St Georges Avenue

St. Georges Avenue apartments take shape

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The 50-unit development on St. Georges Avenue has taken shape over the past month, adding the third floor and some curbing within the complex.

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Arts District, Downtown

Piano Conservatory opens

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Conservatory: Piano, Hi Fi and Modern Home opened its doors Friday night for a “sneak preview” at its new home next to the Union County Performing Arts Center.

The conservatory will feature educational programs, a piano showroom, state-of-the-art audio equipment, vintage jazz and classical vinyl recordings, and recording studios.

Friday’s event included performances on pianos from the Klavierhaus collection as well as demonstrations of the equipment. “Our new multi-faceted space has been created for the pursuit of fine living through musical education and the leisure of experiencing music in the home,” said Peabody Award-winning and Latin Grammy-nominated radio and record producer Jim Luce of Piano Culture.

Renovations to the single-story building at the corner of Irving and Coach streets, which once housed the Rahway Alternative Education Center, could run upward of $20,000 once the HVAC system is replaced, according to Mayor James Kennedy, who also serves as a board member of UCPAC and the unpaid executive director of the Rahway Arts District. The arts center owns the building and will cover the cost of renovations, which included a new roof, he said, while leasing it to Luce and his partners.

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Uncategorized

Dance center vacates Irving Street location

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Catching up on a few older items in this blog post. As pointed out by a reader email, the Union County Dance Centre last month moved out of its Irving Street location (photo at left) to a new home in Linden. Showfur Pets also vacated its East Cherry Street location.

As far as newcomers, it looks like Edward Jones Investments will be moving into one of the commercial spaces at Carriage City Plaza, next to the former Mr. G’s Coffee. Signage has been up for awhile but interior work appears to be progressing.

Since we’re on the topic of retail/commercial vacancies and I’ve been meaning to post this link for weeks, here’s a write-up on nj.com (“Pint-sized Gem: Kitchen a la Mode”) about a tiny, specialized kitchen store in downtown South Orange. It goes back to the types of niche stores and merchants that a downtown needs or wants, something Rahway surveyed a few years ago.

And in another look at what other towns are doing, Metuchen has started offering 10 minutes of free parking downtown. The Rahway Parking Authority reinstituted parking meters downtown last summer but the parking deck offers up to 30 minutes free.

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Here’s a piece in Philanthropy Journal (“Nonprofit theaters see financial upswing”) that examines two reports about nonprofit theaters. One reports theaters are rebounding slightly from budget cuts yet many still expect cash flow problems this year, while the other indicates theaters still face staff reductions and changes, including smaller shows and casts and greater reliance on local talent.

There’s also this story from nj.com last month about some arts groups cutting back schedules or closing altogether.

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City Council

City purchases $90k piano for conservatory

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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.”

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Arts District, Rahway, UCPAC

Recent studies paint bleak picture for the arts

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Two items got my attention recently that are relevant to Rahway given the mayor’s plans to make it “All About the Arts.”

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Uncategorized

Concerts the clear choice for arts center

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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.

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