Construction on the Chambers Plaza redesign, the outdoor space in front of the downtown Newark theater complex, began on April 17, announced the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC). This work, expected to continue through the end of the calendar year, marks the start of a three-year, $336M redevelopment project aimed at transforming the Arts Center’s 12-acre campus.
The redesign of Chambers Plaza and the addition of a new space, Essex County Green, funded by a $5M grant from the County, will establish a new four-season urban park in downtown Newark. The reimagined space will feature facilities such as a rain garden, new lighting, and seating, enabling year-round programs including performances, markets, and classes. Brooklyn-based landscape architecture studio Future Green has designed the new Chambers Plaza. “This reimagining of our ‘front yard’ will enable NJPAC to host even more community events and outdoor gatherings,” says John Schreiber, NJPAC’s President and CEO. “We’re grateful to Ray Chambers and the Chambers family, and to Essex County, especially County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, for supporting this project.”
To facilitate the work, portions of the campus will be surrounded with fencing, starting on or around April 1. However, NJPAC will remain open and accessible throughout construction. The Arts Center’s box office, Parking Lot A, and Nico Kitchen + Bar will all remain open. Signage along Center Street will direct pedestrians and vehicular traffic to the most easily accessible entry points during the construction work, although the Arrival Court parking area adjacent to Center Street will be closed.
NJPAC’s popular Horizon Sounds of the City free summer concert series will continue this summer, thanks to a phased construction schedule. The series will have a slightly modified schedule of six performances (instead of the typical eight). Horizon Sounds of the City will begin with an opening night appearance by Felix Hernandez and his Rhythm Revue Dance Party on June 27, as a part of the North to Shore Festival.
The Chambers Plaza refresh is the first piece of a campus-wide redevelopment project for NJPAC. The full renovation, expected to conclude by 2027, will include the construction of The Cooperman Family Arts Education and Community Center, designed by the renowned architectural firm of Weiss/Manfredi, on what is now NJPAC’s Parking Lot C, as well as the construction of a new pedestrian-friendly extension of Mulberry Street across the Arts Center’s campus to Rector Street.
The project also includes the establishment of ArtSide, a new mixed-use development that will include 350 residential rental units and retail and cultural spaces along the extension of Mulberry Street. Twenty percent of the residential units in the development will consist of affordable housing.
The ArtSide project, which will include high-rise and low-rise buildings as well as a new headquarters for WBGO, the nation’s premier jazz public radio station, is a joint effort between the NJPAC and developers Center Street Owners (CSO), a group that includes LMXD and Prudential Impact & Responsible Investments. Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), the celebrated architecture firm, is designing the new neighborhood, which will be built on what is now the Arts Center’s Parking Lot A.
“When Governor Tom Kean and Ray Chambers first imagined NJPAC in the late 1980s, they hoped the Arts Center would be the center of a beautiful new Newark neighborhood. We are delighted to be making their expansive vision a reality,” says Schreiber. “When the work is completed in 2027, all the new amenities on our campus will contribute enormously to the ongoing revitalization of Newark’s downtown.”
