Rutherford Residents Host Rally In Support Of William Carlos Williams Performing Arts Center

This Saturday, June 26, Rutherford residents will hold a rally at Williams Center Plaza from 12 noon to 3pm, to voice their objections to demolishing the Williams Center, a private, nonprofit performing arts and cinema complex, that sits on a coveted piece of real estate in the center of this northern New Jersey town. Rutherford resident and Broadway veteran, concert, recording artist, composer and MAC award winner Rosemary Loar, will make a special appearance at Saturday's event.

On June 14, Rutherford's Borough Council voted 4-1 to adopt a Redevelopment Plan written by Neglia Engineering which does not require the new buyer to restore the Newman Theater. In so doing, they rejected all Planning Board Amendments and Recommendations and dismissed the concerns of hundreds of residents. The Neglia Redevelopment Plan does not include a requirement that the owner of the building preserve the historic Newman theater. This plan will be put to a final vote next Monday, June 28. Rutherford residents are circulating a Change.org petition which has garnered over 2700 signatures to date.

Bergen County, who owns the the historical Williams Center for the Performing Arts, is putting it up for auction on August 19th. For more information regarding the Center and the online auction you can visit https://www.savethewilliamscenter.com/.

The Williams Center houses the Newman Theater, three movie screens and an outdoor terrace. A magnificent 2 ton-crystal chandelier, a twin of the one that hung in the original Warner Brothers Theater (later renamed the Mark Hellinger Theater) on Broadway and 51st Street hangs above the 642-seat theater. However, since 2012 the Newman Theater has been shuttered due to damage to its plaster ceiling during Hurricane Sandy. Inspired by other historic theater restorations taking place throughout the country, a Save the Williams Center group hopes this Saturday's rally will raise awareness about the auction of the Williams Center and spearhead interest by an arts-oriented developer who could save the Newman Theater and sponsor its revitalization.

A STORIED HISTORY: The Williams Center is named after the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and physician William Carlos Williams who lived in Rutherford. It was originally built in the 1920s as a Vaudeville theater known as the Rivoli and major acts such as Abbot and Costello and The Glenn Miller Orchestra performed there.

Over the past couple of years, the Williams Center Board along with volunteers have kept the Center afloat, upgrading the cinemas and hosting special events such as live music, comedy nights, craft beer tastings, and film screenings. They believe a tastefully renovated Williams Center could bring value to the town's cultural and economic life, as well as provide a shared community event space and, promote a vibrant arts scene.

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