There’s a dormant 1929 movie palace sitting in the middle of Journal Square, and it’s about to come back to life.
The Loew’s Jersey Theatre has been under wraps since 2021. This fall, it will finally reemerge, revealing a gilded throwback to when theaters were lavish, performances drew thousands, and the architecture matched the opulence with ease.
The Loew’s renovation isn’t subtle. And the $130-million plan isn’t meant to update the place into something contemporary—it’s the exact opposite.
The intention is to transport visitors back to 1929, when the theater first opened its doors. It was one of five “wonder theaters,” and the only one not in New York. Thus far, the glimpses we’ve seen of the project show that the builders and architects on the scene understand the assignment.
This matters. The Loew’s Theater isn’t just an aged building—it was nearly demolished in the 80s, then fought for over the course of the decades that followed. And that fight is about to pay off.
How an Architectural Feat Almost Got Demolished
Loew’s story is one of peaks and valleys. In the 1970s, it was carved into a multiplex—all the architectural beauty and detail stripped out in favor of practicality. More screens were stuffed into the theater, and the artistic intention of the 1929 building was completely lost. By the 1980s, it faced the wrecking ball as Jersey City looked to “revitalize” Journal Square.
Then a grassroots group called Friends of the Loew’s formed. They pushed back on city plans and worked out a solution to allow nonprofit work on the building. Through mostly volunteer-led work, the theater reopened in 2001.
20 years later, after some of the necessary work was deemed too much for the volunteers, Friends of the Loew’s made the difficult decision to shut its doors. But not without a plan.
The building, understandably old, needed major structural work to operate as a functional theater. The bulk of the work between 2021 addressed that: modernized electrical systems, plumbing upgrades, and new HVAC systems, according to reporting by NJ.com.
The New Loew’s Theatre Looks Like the Old
Loew’s is being rebuilt to operate as a functional venue for the modern day—with flexibility to weave between concerts, movie premieres, live theater, and more. And while the theater’s capabilities are being completely modernized, the look and feel of the place screams vintage.
The idea is that when you walk into the Loew’s Jersey Theatre, you’ll feel as if you walked through a time machine and emerged in the Roaring 20’s. The ornate details that line the walls. The hand-painted art on the ceilings. The red velvet curtains. The grand chandelier. It’s all being restored (or replicated) to reflect the venue as it was nearly 100 years ago.
The Loew’s Jersey Theatre reopens this fall. Journal Square gets its gem back. Now that’s what revitalizing a neighborhood actually looks like.
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
