The Friends of the Loew’s is the volunteer group that operates the 79-year-old historic Loew’s Jersey Theater in Journal Square. Their relationship with the city, which owns the theater that the group is constantly restoring, has become strained in recent years. The city has questioned the validity of the group’s lease to operate the theater, a dispute that has long been unresolved.
However, in recent months, the city and the FOL have begun to work out their differences.
At the April 22 City Council meeting, the council introduced an ordinance amending the lease through the inclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU spells out mandatory conditions that the FOL must follow, such as operating the Loew’s as a multi-cultural arts and entertainment center and submiting an annual auditor’s report to the City Clerk and a semi-annual report to the Business Administrator’s office.
The second reading, public hearing, and final vote on the ordinance will be held at the next council meeting on May 20 at City Hall, 180 Grove St. at 6 p.m.
If the ordinance passes, it allows for the complete renovation of the Loew’s Theatre, which requires access to city funds and grant money. It also keeps in place the Friends of the Loew’s, who have maintained the theater for more than 20 years.
Highs and Loew’s
On Oct. 15, 2004, the City Council approved a long-term lease between the city and the FOL to operate and maintain the theater. The lease allowed FOL to attract major promoters for events and to make much needed repairs to the theater.
The agreement also called for the FOL to meet yearly benchmarks toward renovating and operating the theater, and makes the city responsible for theater repairs to meet fire code and health standards. And it allows the FOL to operate the Loew’s on a five-year basis with two five-year extensions.
But for over four years, there has been turmoil between the two sides, with city Business Administrator Brian O’ Reilly at one point notifying the FOL that the council-approved lease was not signed by then-acting Mayor Harvey Smith, which rendered it null and void.
And Mayor Jerramiah Healy never signed off officially on the lease agreement, citing his preference for a private company to renovate and manage the theater while the Friends of the Loew’s could continue to work as staff during events.
Being hopeful
These days, Friends of the Loew’s co-founders Colin Egan and Patti Giordan are optimistic the ordinance will pass.
They have to be, after waiting for nearly five years for the city to concede the lease is valid.
“We hope so,” said Egan on Monday. “I don’t think it’s terribly productive on our part to go into this thinking that it will not pass.”
The one thing that had Egan and Giordan in suspense were O’Reilly’s “concerns” about the MOU, which O’Reilly alluded to at a City Council caucus. But he did not go into detail about what those concerns were.
O’Reilly said on Thursday that he was concerned about two words – “without limitation.”
Those two words appear in paragraph 6 of the MOU, which refers to the Friends letting the city know about their financial needs so the city can have sufficient funding in place – without limitation. O’Reilly said those words have to be taken out before the ordinance is approved, because they imply unlimited funding. He said he plans to meet with the FOL this coming week to address that matter.
“That language, ‘without limitation,’ is too broad for my recommendation to the governing body, because it could have financial consequences that are currently immeasurable,” O’Reilly said.
He added, “[The FOL] could ask for $4 million chandeliers and brand new cushions like in Carnegie Hall.”
But O’Reilly said he is optimistic that the FOL will agree to take out the words, and that the City Council will approve the ordinance at their next meeting.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.