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They're trying.

From the article:
"Egan said the theater is in the midst of a roughly $400,000 stage-equipment upgrade that could be finished within a year and lead to more activity at the Loew?s."

They haven't done that many live shows because it previously required renting and setting up all the equipment for each one. A few months ago they managed to buy a whole set of modern stage gear from a theatre company that went under, and they're in the process of installing it all.

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The Loews group did a fantastic job at restoring the theater. They are terrible at programming. The group should be commended for their work and real a real programming team should be brought in to take it from here. Instead, the current group has been allowed to hold the theater hostage and the city (its owner) does nothing to change it. There should be live events in there at least twice a week. Movies should not be the focus - especially 90-year old movies that draw a couple dozen people. One weekend a year could be devoted to vintage movies, but why has that been allowed to become the dominant theme to the programming there? It's as though it is the private clubhouse of a couple people, essentially rent-free.

It's real potential is as a venue for theater, dance and concerts. Nobody needs to go to a theater to see an old movie and not enough people want to.

the wal-mart mentality pervades

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I gave up on us ever becoming anything close to Brooklyn. The culture here is bazaar.

Funding for the arts is important and I hate to see another example of a cultural place getting left out in the cold. What other cultural projects are receiving city money, and which of them are anywhere near the oft overlooked Journal Square?
The management at loews has proven it can deliver cultural resources to the community, they have been doing it since their feet hit the ground back when they saved the building from destruction many years ago. What other cultural resources in the city have such a proven track record? Most of you will remember the debacle of the ?Jersey City Museum? which failed spectacularly, had zero transparency and sucked up Millions of city dollars. Loews Jersey apparently uses a tiny fraction of that sort of city funding and has been consistently delivering culture and quality of life in a neighborhood which appears to have very little else in the way of city sponsored ANYTHING. If the Loews Jersey is shuttered what cultural stuff will remain in the area?

Whatever happened to the clock with the dragon being speared? I remember something like a decade back they got it working for a while.

Their programming is part of what makes the Loews special. Playing contemporary films will only turn it into "just another movie theater". Why you'd be in favor of tax incentives for "just another movie theater" is beyond me.

I agree with the poster below me - this place really has the potential to be the impetus of change for the entire area. Don't be stupid and let it go to waste.

Well, I think management at the Loew's needs to be changed and perhaps screen more contemporary films. Then I would be in favor of taxpayer funds for the Loews.

So much potential. If some vibrant businesses and restaurants could be persuaded/incentivized to open up around the building at the same time that more programming starts being offered at the theatre then there is real potential for the rest of the square to gain back some of its vibrancy.

I'm sure a lot of people will scream that offering incentives for nicer stores/restaurants (lets be honest, right now white castle or popeyes might be the nicest restaurant) to open up in the square and enforcing facade upkeep rules is "horrible gentrification" but it really isnt. Its helping a neighborhood return to its former glory and should benefit all residents in the area and city.

Abandoning the theatre = abandoning journal square.

Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

When the leading Jersey City mayoral candidates met to debate at the Landmark Loew?s Jersey Theatre in Journal Square this week, the two men bickered over crime stats, high taxes and Waterfront development.
Mayor Jerramiah Healy and mayoral hopeful City Councilman Steve Fulop also differed on the Loew?s itself, with Healy saying the 84-year-old theater would not receive any more city funding and Fulop saying he sees the Loew?s as an investment that could help bring ?Journal Square back.?





?I am not committing more taxpayers dollars to the Loew?s theater,? Healy said Tuesday afternoon at the tail-end of his two-hour debate with Fulop. ?We need another source of funding.?

The legendary theater opened in 1929, built for $2 million (equivalent to about $27 million in today?s dollars). For decades it featured live entertainment and movie showings, but business slowly declined until the doors shut in 1986...
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