Former Carteret vaudeville theater to be restored

posted by Michael Zoldessy on August 25, 2014 at 7:45 am

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CARTERET, NJ — Plans are coming together for the restoration announced three months ago of the Ritz Theater. The plan now is to also build a movie theater next door with a complementary mission. The hope is that everything will be ready by 2017.

UPDATE: Workers have already started to remove the drop ceiling in the Ritz, exposing the old ornate ceiling and the proscenium.

Read more in the Asbury Park Press.

(Thanks to walterk for providing the photo.)

More photos in the Newark Star-Ledger.

Theaters in this post

Comments (2)

walterk
walterk on August 25, 2014 at 1:35 pm

Two updates to add that have been posted on the Ritz comments page over the weekend…The Star-Ledger pictures now have an accompanying article, published August 24. Part of the plan as mentioned here is to include a movie complex, which will attach to the east side of the the building. On the west there will be an addition constructed that, along with the planned addition of a mezzanine, will increase capacity from its original 1,200 to 1,500 according to the mayor.

On Friday, NJTV NEWS did an approximately 3 minute spot on the plans to restore, starting at about 22:30. At the 25 minute mark there is an artist drawing of what the performing arts center should look like when finished.

Growing up only a few blocks from the Ritz, it was like a second home to me. Looking at the pictures brought back memories, it’s as I remember it down to colors of the paint. I was surprised to see the soft goods still hanging down from the ceiling after all these years.

markp
markp on August 25, 2014 at 2:36 pm

walterk, you probably knew my father who was the projectionist here from 1946 till it closed in 1965. Im hoping to secure a job as a stagehand here once it opens.

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