Jacqueline Smith, the supervisor of ushers at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center had the seat next to the center's former CEO Larry Goldman at their banquet table. "Larry, I want to show you this," she said. As a four-piece combo from the NJPAC's teen jazz program played flawlessly bathed in rotating purple and silver lights, Smith produced a...
Jacqueline Smith, the supervisor of ushers at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center had the seat next to the center's former CEO Larry Goldman at their banquet table.
"Larry, I want to show you this," she said.
As a four-piece combo from the NJPAC's teen jazz program played flawlessly bathed in rotating purple and silver lights, Smith produced a scrapbook from the early days of the world-class music venue.
Goldman took the book and began flipping pages. The early days of NJPAC - back when photos were still taken with film, developed at the drug store and secured in albums - were captured in pictures and memorabilia.
Smith had ticket stubs to some of the first few shows, and one from the first gala, starring Diana Ross.
She had snapshots of herself with Natalie Cole, Bernie Mac, Lauryn Hill and James Earl Jones.
"That was the first hip-hop show," she said.
MORE: Recent Mark Di Ionno columns
Smith, who every knows as J.T., was there at the beginning, as were the other 90 people in a banquet room overlooking the newer glass and steel office buildings along the Route 21 corridor in downtown Newark.
The occasion was a thank you dinner for the employees and volunteers who have been at NJPAC since it opened on Oct. 18, 1997.
They are the ushers, the box-office workers, the ticket-takers, the security force, all the people who have welcomed about 10 million theatergoers to NJPAC since opening night, when the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Wynton Marsalis, Savion Glover, Chita Rivera and others took the stage to christen the venue that promised to transform downtown Newark.
That process is ongoing -- well-documented and obvious to anyone who stands at the front of the sweeping brick landmark and simply looks around.
Within eyesight are the restored residential towers of 1180 Raymond Blvd. and 740 Broad St., the two copper-topped towers that are Newark's tallest buildings. Military Park, at NJPAC's door step, has been cleaned up, re-masoned and sodded. BURG, a small new burger-and-shake diner that serves alcohol, recently opened.
Across the street, on a block that includes the venerable New Jersey Historical Society and jazz-radio station WBGO's studios, is a new Newark Visitor Center. Inside are Newark-themed souvenirs: T-shirts and hats, coffee cups and coasters depicting some of the dozens of outdoor murals throughout the city.
Across Broad Street from NJPAC is the refurbished Hahne's Building, now renting luxury apartments. The anchor retail tenant is Whole Foods.
Rutgers University-Newark has significant space in the building, too, called Express Newark, with an art gallery, portrait studio and performance areas open to the public. NJPAC brings music and drama there, and into the Newark Library, as well as its city branches.
"We'll do two dozen events at Express Newark over the season," said John Schreiber, who became NJPAC's leader when Goldman retired four years ago.
The Hahne's Building is the link between the downtown and University Heights, where about 40,000 students come every day to Rutgers, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Essex County College.
"This was the vision right from the start," said Schreiber. "(Former Gov.) Tom Kean came to the city with the idea fully formed; that an arts and education district could form around an anchor cultural institution and transform the city," he said. "And for 20 years that vision has been advanced consistently. No one has ever wavered from the big idea."
Schreiber said Kean's vision was brought to fruition by "the four horsemen of this audacious goal" -- Kean, former mayor Sharpe James, philanthropist Ray Chambers and Goldman.
Goldman added the late Star-Ledger editor Mort Pye to the list.
"The Star-Ledger and Mort Pye were incredibly supportive," he said.
That is the story that has been told many times. And the future story will include a hotel and conference center on NJPAC land and the opening of the One Theater Square luxury residential building across from the venue. Work is beginning on two more luxury apartment buildings in downtown landmarks - The Griffith Piano Building and the Bell Telephone Building.
J.T. Smith's scrapbook tells another story: the one of the fierce pride the NJPAC workforce had in their new place of employment.
Along with the historic ticket stubs and snapshots of stars, there are detailed pictures of the seats and woodwork in the auditorium, and pages and pages of fellow employees at office parties and other gatherings.
"We are like a family here," she said. "This is a wonderful place to work."
Most, like Smith, are Newarkers, born and raised.
Smith worked at Prudential full time and Newark Symphony Hall when NJPAC began hiring. She was thrilled to get the job.
"I couldn't wait to get in here and see this," she said. "Then, I never left."
Tom Dixon, a member of the security force, came to NJPAC from Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
"I saw a lot of people work very hard to make this happen," he said of the early days. "We all have pride in it. It's been a very pleasant place to work."
Both Smith and Dixon believed NJPAC would improve the downtown, but the recent blossoming has exceeded their expectations.
"I thought it would last," Dixon said. "But I never thought it would change everything so much. But here we are. And it's getting better."
"This is a new time for Newark," Smith said. "This place has made the difference. It has brought people downtown. It's the center of the city."
Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.
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