Creating a New Anchor to Serve as Linchpin in Newark Economy

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Objective: A city long defined by its riots and racial tension, Newark was a city in need of significant urban revitalization. This case study shows how the creation of a brand new anchor institution – the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) – helped to bring residents back downtown and spur new business development and job creation.

Main Topic: Anchor intuition
Sub Topic: Community revitalization
Sub-Sub Topic: Cultural programming

Geography: Newark, NJ
Major Participants: State of New Jersey, City of Newark, federal government

Background: After devastating riots in the late 1960s, Newark, NJ struggled to attract residents. As residents left the city, businesses followed. In 1986, then Governor Thomas Kean appointed a committee to address the need for a New Jersey-based performing arts organization. Newark – a city with great transit accessibility and proximity to New York City – was chosen primarily as an attempt to revitalize the struggling city.

The challenge: The creation of a world class performing arts center that would serve as a linchpin to Newark’s flailing economy, spurring the creation of new local jobs and acting as a catalyst for commercial and residential development.

How it happened: A planning commission was named by the Governor to guide the project. Newark’s previous redevelopment projects involved skywalks that connected office buildings to transit, which limited integration in to the community. Thus, the commission decided that the NJPAC would be in the heart of the city and intended to encourage pedestrian activity. The actual design of the building incorporated brick, exposed steel and glass—deliberately reflecting Newark’s industrial history.

To address the lingering racial tension in the city, the construction of the $180 million facility deliberately included minority contractors. According to the founding CEO of the NJPAC, Lawrence Goldman, they determined that “diversity would be a reality and not just a goal.” Of the estimated 1,000 construction jobs created, 46% went to minorities.

The construction of the building took place on the old Military Park hotel site, a building that had stood vacant and was crumbling before it was demolished in 1993.

Results for Newark community: Over five million visitors have come to the NJPAC since it opened in 1997. The facility hosts a weekly free concert series for Newark residents, hosts events 275 days each year and a total of over 400 events each year. The center also runs workshops for teachers, a theater series, a dance academy, after-school training for young musicians and arts camps to serve thousands of students from the city and its suburbs.

According to Goldman, the most important impact has been psychologically: people now look at Newark in a new light. In one survey, 72% of Newark residents said they felt better about their own city since the facility opened. It has helped to create a city identity and bring them out of NYC’s shadow.

Economically, it has spurred additional development. In addition to the new 20,000 seat arena for the New Jersey Devils hockey team, new restaurants have opened, two 35-story office buildings have been renovated in to offices and apartments, and numerous local infrastructure improvements have been made. Construction of a mixed-use retail and 300-unit apartment complex is slated to begin soon.

Goldman negotiated with the local union to hire more minority workers for the jobs at the NJPAC. Some of the best jobs at the facility are the stage-hand jobs; people in these positions can earn upwards of $125,000 per year. Because of the union agreement, 47% of the stage-hand employee hours are worked by minorities.

Lessons Learned: Goldman and his team spent months gaining the support of suburban residents who had a longstanding fear of visiting the central city. They went door to door and explaining that this would be a safe project; that they would be able to go to the NJPAC without fears of having their cars broken in to or being physically assaulted.

Ongoing support was needed from the federal government in order to make the project outlast the multiple turnovers in state and city government. The creation of an anchor institution takes time—in this case, it took a decade for the project to go from conception to operational. Creating an independent commission helped to keep the project on tract during transitions.  

Last Updated on February 6th, 2012

TAGS: anchors | performing arts | cultural institution | economic development | community development | newark | cities | mbes | business | urban revitalization