Jersey City’s refusal to answer simple questions about Loew’s is cause for concern | Jersey Journal editorial

Where are the pieces of the marquee? What condition are they in? Was proper care taken when they were being dismantled?

Those are three simple questions The Jersey Journal has asked the administration of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop about the Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theater on Journal Square.

Why can’t we get a straight answer?

The Loew’s is a historic building that’s owned by the city taxpayers and undergoing a more than $100 million renovation so that it can move from a movie palace of the past to a concert venue of the future weighted toward standing-room-only crowds jumping up and down to the music.

When the renovation is complete, the original fixed seating and ornate end pieces along aisles – through which moviegoers and vaudeville show ticket holders in the working-class city entered a fantasy world of glitz and glamour, if only for a few hours – will be gone.

That’s a concession to the new operators of the theater, as they said it was necessary to accommodate the standing-room-only crowds that will up ticket sales enough for them to turn a profit. In place of the old inclined-theater seating, new platforms are being installed with folding chairs to make it possible to have concerts or other shows with seated audiences.

OK. We get that. It kind of hurts, especially if you were ever in the audience for a classic film shown on a 50-foot screen by the nonprofit Friends of the Loew’s, the group that saved the theater from demolition in the 1980s and kept it going with a variety of programming until the new operators were chosen. But it felt like a reasonable concession considering the promise of an otherwise pristine renovation of a very special place.

Opened in 1929, the theater is filled with nearly century-old touches that must be protected.

The clock on top of its terracotta exterior where St. George slew the dragon every 15 minutes. The brass entrance doors flanking a brass ticket booth that juts out just a touch. The grand, gilded lobby. A theater organ that originally accompanied silent films. Restroom lounges that gave patrons a taste of luxury.

When asked about individual aspects of the restoration, Fulop’s administration gives sweeping promises but refuses to answer specific questions. Only one journalist has been granted access to see the work in progress, tellingly, a reporter for a real estate website.

We certainly believe the restoration will be stunning when done, but will it also be true to and preserve all of the Loew’s history?

The question was freshly brought up last month when workers started demolition on the marquee.

The marquee isn’t the original one, and it’s been known that the plan is to take it down and replace it with a replica of the much grander original marquee, but with all the modern video features now available.

Still, the marquee that’s been there since 1949 had historical significance, including two sets of the theater name in red neon that preservationists assumed would be taken down with care and used in some other way. They could be part of an exhibit, for example, or even sold at auction to raise funds for community programming.

Instead, the demolition work started in a less-than-caring manner with one of the “Loew’s Jersey” lighted signs cut horizontally in half and the other taken down in an unknown condition.

Was it a mistake? Was a lesson learned? Is anything salvageable?

After The Jersey Journal’s Teri West reported on the concerns of preservationists, we asked a series of follow-up questions.

On Nov. 14, we asked, among other questions:

• Where are the marquee pieces that were taken down?
• Is any of it salvageable? The “Loew’s Jersey” script at the left was obviously cut up, but it’s hard to tell from what’s left if the “Loew’s Jersey” script at the right was taken down as a whole. Where is it?
• Was this a miscommunication between the developers/architects and the demolition crew?
• Going forward, is anything changing to ensure that both exterior and interior items of historical significance are preserved, restored or salvaged?

After a month of crickets, we asked again and received the following four paragraphs from city spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione:

“Despite Teri’s article, the current marquee is not historic. After a thorough and thoughtful process, every aspect of its removal was approved by both the city’s and state’s Historic Preservation offices.

“Preservation experts determined that the marquee had to come down to protect and preserve the historic façade behind the marquee, as is not only required by the state but is also the purpose of this entire restoration project to preserve the legendary theatre in every way possible. I’m not clear why it is being presented otherwise.

“Also of note, HBSE (Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment) hired a marquee specialist to further these preservation efforts.

“As I had explained to Teri, for the historical aspect of the construction, we are required to utilize historic preservation experts.”

The sweeping promises were invoked by the Fulop administration once again, and our specific questions remain unanswered.

The Landmark Loew’s Jersey belongs to all of us. It’s a part of our history that we’re spending a lot of hard-earned money on.

We understand that Journal Square is changing and its future will one day be dictated by the well-heeled residents of luxury apartments springing up in highrises.

Like our ancestors, though, we hope everyone, no matter their station, can get a taste of its original glory whenever they’re able to walk through its brass doors. We need answers and assurances from the Fulop administration that better care is being taken inside than it was on the marquee.

Send letters to the editor and guest columns for The Jersey Journal to jjletters@jjournal.com.