Hector: The Loews Jersey Saga is a screenplay by itself! In 1986, Hartz Mountain bought the Loews Jersey to tear it down and build their own office tower on the site. It took years and years of work by preservationists (actually just regular people) that formed into a non-profit group aimed at saving the theatre called “Friends of the Loew’s” to stop the demolition until, finally, Hartz Mountain gave up. Colin Egan, the Managing Director, tells a great story about how, after years of fighting against Hartz Mountain to save the Loew’s, Hartz finally decided it wasn’t in “their best interest” to try and tear it down. (This is after offering to save the lobby portion with chandelier, and tear down the rest of the theatre… thoughts were that this would placate the preservationists… but Friends of the Loew’s wasn’t in it to save a theatre lobby), so, long story short, the Hartz Mountain attorney ended up having lunch with Friends of the Loew’s to best facilitate selling off the theatre. The cost was $400,000… and it came down to a single City Council vote well past Midnight in a sardine-packed city council chambers… and the vote was FOR saving the Loew’s Jersey. Man, you can’t make this stuff up. Someone should write a book…
beardbear31: That’s understood, but what I’m saying is that because that was done, another entity couldn’t take the theatre over and legally call it the Loew’s Kings again… although that’s what people will continue to call it going forward.
In answering MarkDHite’s post above from Oct 4th inquiring how Loew’s Jersey can still be called LOEW’S Jersey… the answer is actually quite interesting, and deals with a law on the books in the State of NJ. When a building is sold, or there’s a change of location of a store, the name of the business or store must be removed from said building.
An example:
A Boscov’s department store had to close one of it’s locations because of the current economic climate. The last thing they did was to pull the name and logos off the exterior. If they didn’t, the new owners could open up a store called “Boscov’s”.
In 1986, when Hartz Mountain bought th Loew’s Jersey from the Loew’s Corporation, the end result wasn’t that the building was going to be shuttered and sold to a new tenant… it was to be demolished. There was NO REASON to pay for a company to come in and remove the word “Loew’s” off the marquee, since, in a matter of months, it was going to come down with a wrecking ball anyways… RIGHT???
Well… WHOOPS… It didn’t come down… and Hartz Mountain sold it (Loew’s name intact) to the City of Jersey City, who then signed a long term lease with F.O.L.
F.O.L. (and Jersey City, for that matter) get to, you guessed it… call the Loew’s Jersey the LOEW’S JERSEY!
Last little tidbit:
The “Loew’s” name WAS removed from the Loew’s Kings. Only “Kings” was left on the marquee, however “Loew’s Paradise” WAS left intact, and I believe it was restored, although I don’t believe they were actually calling it with the Loew’s name attached like the Jersey does.
a) There’s NO bird droppings anywhere in the projection room. I doubt you have ever been allowed in there, since there now are many thousands of dollars of restored equipment in there. You may have been thinking about the state of the room pre-FOL and pre-restoration, ‘cause there sure aren’t any dead birds laying around. Stop lying.
b) I have been involved with the Loew’s since 1998, and have not noticed plaster being damaged to a greater extent. I HAVE seen steps taken to make sure the plaster does NOT get worse, until the new molds can be created. Stop lying.
c) I think I’ll believe our house projectionist, over someone who’s jealous over the Loew’s Jersey, and doesn’t want them to succeed.
d) FOL restored the marquee back to usable condition (for a LOT less than was quoted to us) back in the mid-90’s. You and your “supposed friend” are a croc. Stop lying.
Lighting under the balcony is reached by a ladder. Lighting on the top is reached by the catwalks, which encircle the coves. Little metal circles (we call them pie plates) are taken off to reach in to the sockets.
GabeDF: Hmmm…. the left front space? Do you mean the office that’s tucked away behind the left ticket booth in the outer lobby that Friends of the Loews now uses? If so, it was a store originally. Most movie palaces has retail stores on the outside theatre frontage to generate additional income. Being that it was on such an odd shaped lot, the architects could only fit one little corner store in. It was a little luncheonette that sold cigars. (I think United was the brand???) Actually, if you look up in the photo of the Jersey at the top of this page… you can JUST BARELY see the word “United” above the storefront in the picture. Next to it is the word (which you can’t see) “Cigars”. The letters and frames, as well as the double doors to this store are down in the Female Usher’s Room, in the never-built lounge section.
The store, after it closed, has had a change-around. The area is split by a wall, and the Jersey city Police have a little substation there. The Friends of the Loews share the side closest to the theatre, and for access, they made an accessway through one of the little ticket booths, which is to the left as you walk in. The “management office” is quite tiny with 5 computer stations… one of those cubicle-type affairs.
And now… the “Has-To-Be-Said” Department:
Some of you have read comments posted by Bob Furmanek regarding the Loew’s Jersey, and may be wondering why, since his first post on Sept 24, 2004 (!!), it seems like he is poo-pooing the theatre with trivial posts, such as “when I was in charge of programming… things were SO MUCH BETTER…” Take some time to look back and check out all of the posts. As you can imagine, there WAS a disagreement between the Friends of the Loews and Mr. Furmanek. The latter chose to leave on his own accord. (Hey, these things happen in life, don’t they?) In the time that Mr. Furmanek has left, much work has been accomplished on the theatre, mostly backstage to bring in concert performers. (revamped dressing rooms, and the installation of two showers. Can you believe the Loews Jersey was built with one… ONE…. shower for all the performers???) Now, mind you… I’ve been a good boy for the past FOUR years, quietly reading Mr. Furmanek’s posts, but it DOES get tiring, reading how… “he doesn’t know how many people were in attendance at the movie this past Friday… but when HE was in charge… WOO-HOO… there just HAD to be more people there.
Now, to be fair, not ALL of his posts contain something negative, and some don’t even contain the letter “I”, as in referring to how “he did something” when he was there. This is refreshing… a nice POSITIVE contribution to these boards. Nothing political in nature, or one-sided.
We still love Bob, and think he’s a great guy… Will he ever be placed back in charge of film programming…. most likely not. Why? The easiest way to describe the reason can be summed up in his own words. His posting here on December 10th, 2004 at 9:54 AM can be taken BOTH ways.
Love ya, Bob… but it’s been almost 5 years now. Let it go, huh?
Nope… no elevator. Never mind the people walking up there… think of the poor kids that had to schlep the film cans up to the projection room! And the projectors… when they came in, had to be CARRIED up to the projection room up the grand staircase. Insane? Yes!… but it had to be done.
The elevator wasn’t something that was originally planned, and then slashed due to cost-cutting in May of 1928…. (we’d know because it would be in the blueprints…) it was just never planned.
More neat Jersey trivia: it was the Assistant Manager’s office on the Orchestra floor, right next to the grand staircase, that was turned into an ADA restroom. The Manager’s office was on the 2nd floor promenade. Behind the wall in the Assistant Manager’s office, a large walk-in safe was covered over with sheetrock. That’s where all the 35-cent admissions were kept until a run to the bank!
Nope, no elevator was ever built in the Jersey, but there are elevators in some of the other Wonder Theatres. (BTW – no luck on the heights. The blueprints I have don’t show that info.)
I believe there were possibly two times when decorative items were moved from the theatre. The first was when they triplexed the theatre in the 70’s. I believe we lost the three chandeliers in the Musician’s Gallery, and possibly water fountains, among other items…
The second was when Hartz Mountain (the owners of the Jersey when it closed in 1986) readied the theatre for demolition, and some higher-level employees (so the story goes) removed light fixtures, the two giant mirrors in frames that were alongside the entrance to the orchestra sections, original lighting fixtures in the auditorium, paintings, etc.
Colin Egan, the DIrector of the theatre, actually received a fixture back from the wife of a Hartz Executive, who, after reading that the theatre WASN’T falling to the wrecking ball, wanted to give it back, and had it dropped off at the theatre one day!
Now, if the REST of the items could find their way back… that would be great!
(Think of the Loews Paradise, and their St. George and the Dragon mechanical tower clock, identical to the one installed here at the Jersey. Someone actually got up to the Paradise clock cupola and STOLE the dragon!!!. Folks, this would not have been an easy thing to do… a sculpted copper dragon… some people are so brazen.)
Brenographs are still there, and film vault as well.
The whole Projection “suite” has 5 rooms: Projection room, Battery room, Rewind room, Supply room and the Rheostat room.
I don’t know where the splicing was done. On the actual blueprints, there is a “rewind table” in the rewind room.
Let me pull down the blueprints (they’re quite large and unwieldy.) I’ll see if I can find out the heights on the Grand Lobby and Auditorium… gimme a few minutes.
No worries about broken windows in the Publicity Room… it was repaired going on two years now… All is good now, and the room has been clean! (Now, if we could only get that sink down at the end of the room to work!!! I hate going down two flights to the mezzanine bathroom to wash up after working up there!)
There is a basement (where the never-built lounge would’ve been in the front) Also included on this floor is what I call the “Powerhouse”… most of the mechanicals in the front, the two ushers rooms down at the base of the staircase, upper dressing rooms, including the chorus' girls (Chester Hale Girls') dressing room, Organ blower room.
Down a flight brings you to the sub-basement. Only the rear is actually “finished”. This is the area that includes a 2nd set of dressing rooms (almost exactly matching the upper rooms except for the chorus room), the rehearsal hall, and a sewage pump room. There is a small ladder that leads down from the “Powerhouse” section in the front… but it’s mostly dirt… and runs back to the rear of the theatre. There’s a considerable amount of coal ash down there as well. Two old gigantic air conditioning compressors live there as well. Apparently the original ones failed within a year or two of the opening of the Jersey, and instead of removing them, they opened a hole down to the sub-basement, and dropped them down there, where they can be seen with a flashlight, still painted red, sitting there all these years.
Your other questions:
The staircase down to the never built section is directly underneath the main staircase on the left. There is a single door there, which the employees/volunteers use to get down to the Powerhouse. If you ever peer inside, you’ll notice an ODD look to the area. It is gigantic with VERY high ceilings. Instead of a grand staircase down, there’s a less-wide metal staircase (that looks odd) built in its place.
Yes, the fire escape on the right side is internal, and we call it the “fire tower”.
The room under the projection room was the “Production Room”, where they made advertising posters for the lobby, and such. It’s also used to access the roof over the Grand Lobby to get to the clock.
Basement under the lobby is divided up into about 5 rooms. Not oval shaped. That’s the Powerhouse area.
Theoretically, the lower lounge COULD be rebuilt, but in some places, there’s low head clearance for return blower ductwork.
I don’t know about the heights of the lobby or auditorium.
What would you be interested in exactly with the original blueprints? If you have something specific, I’d be happy to look at them for you.
Those of you that know the Jersey might be interested in why it only has public bathrooms on the Mezzanine level… as per the blueprints, over a week in May, 1928, it went through a few cost-cutting procedures, including removing marble edging from some of the upper staircases, and the REMOVAL OF AN ENTIRE LOUNGE AREA IN THE BASEMENT!!!
Today, you can see, in the plenum under the orchestra section, the outline of where the original lounge was supposed to be. As per the blueprints, two telephone booths and a coat check room were removed. Originally, there was only a “Male Usher’s Room” (What was eventually built were two rooms for the ushers, one for male, and one for female… yes, it actually says “Female Usher’s Room” on the B-prints.)
Also, there was a room for Mat Storage… although this may be short for Materials storage.
My thinking was that the foundation was already being built along the sides of the PATH (then H&M tracks), in May of ‘28, when the changeover was ordered, blueprints re-drawn. (Both copies… the before and after, are included in the original blueprints).
Something’s going on… (or NOT going on, for that matter.) Check out this listing on RipOffReport.com, a website about companies that don’t pay their employees:
GabeDF: After a 10-tear restoration by the GSTOS, the gigantic Loew’s Jersey Robert Morton “Wonder” Organ is now playing, and will be going through several months of tuning and testing before its public unveiling this Fall. Watch for the announcements in a month or two. Gonna be GREAT!
The “Willie” you’re talking about that was a janitor/handyman at the Loew’s Jersey worked there longer than only 30 years. I know this will be impossible to imagine, but Willie (and I don’t have his last name near me) actually worked at the Loew’s Jersey for its complete (Pre FOL) life, from when the thearte opened in 1929, until it shut down in 1986. He was a teenager when he first started working there.
FOL has some of the huge daily journals from the Jersey dating back to the early 30’s which list the employees, how much they were paid weekly, how many dependents they support, the daily weather, and what the State and the Stanley were showing. Real neat stuff. Anyway, WIllie is in these journals.
After the theatre shut down, Hartz Mountain (the then purchaser of the Loew’s) kept Willie on to be a watchman. Colin Egan would tell me stories about dealing with Willie in the early days of FOL, and trying to save the theatre from demolition. Let’s just say he was a character, but in a good way.
He has since passed away, but I had a major recollection of hearing about Willie after reading Hal’s posting.
Tim, Maybe someone from the G.S.T.O.S. that visits here can answer your questions, as I don’t know the technical aspects about the re-installation. I know one chamber is complete, and the other is mostly (if not fully by now) complete.
Warren, that is correct, just trying to simplify things. The ornamentation on the outside of the cases also varied, as the photos of the decoration on the outside of the original Jersey Morton do not match the decoration on the outside of the Paradise Morton, now being installed at the Jersey, but the dimensions of both consoles are the same.
Yes, the theatre itself was one of the five “Loew’s Wonder Theatres”, and each of the five Wonder Theatres had identical Robert Morton Theatre Organs. The original one from the Loew’s Jersey was removed in the late ‘60’s and shipped off to California. The organ that is currently being restored and installed by the G.S.T.O.S. (Garden State Theatre Organ Society) was the organ from another of the five Loews Wonder Theatres… the Loew’s Paradise Theatre in the Bronx, NY.
More info about the “Wonder Theatre’s Robert Morton Organs” can be found here:
Life’s too short: It’s because that during the restoration of the Jersey’s exterior, It was found that the steelwork inside the brick/terra cotta tower was too far gone and structually unsound after years of water leaks to safely hold the weight of another vertical sign akin to the one that was originally there.
Funny but true story: During the terra cotta restoration, the smaller, left tower (as you look at the front of the Jersey) was entered and surveyed as to what needed to be restored and protected. When the larger, right tower was entered, everyone was aghast at what they found: The innards of the tower were completely filled with old, original steel girders, utilizing MUCH more steel than possibly necessary for a skeleton for a brick and terra cotta tower. Everyone forgot that there was a huge vertical “Loew’s Jersey” vertical sign hanging off the tower 40 years prior! (Well, forgot for a few hours anyway) True story.
Original marquee is a possibility, although it would probably take underwriting from a corporation, or a MAJOR grant that is specifically awarded for “Restoration of the Loew’s Jersey Marquee”.
JohnMessick: The Jersey’s marquee has been changed twice from the original (middle was a streamlined boxey affair with more moving neon up the edges). We have pictures of this in the archives. The current marquee is the third incarnation. But, what I’m getting at is that the original marquee, or at least the underside of it, is still present. When Loews changed the marquees from the originals, they basically changed only the three sides facing the street. Next time you’re at the Jersey, look up under the marquee, and you’ll see the “curved hat” shape of the original marquee. Yes, there are lights in the three coves under the marquee.
Resoration to the original marquee has been discussed, but it is MUCH further down on the list of priorities. Fire escape restoration… Loge, Mezzanine and Balcony seating restoration… higher up on the list.
The five Wonder Theatres were featured on A&E’s Sunday morning program “Breakfast with the Arts” today. Real nice segment, with extensive info on the Jersey and Kings. Maybe check the TV guides for rerun times.
Hector: The Loews Jersey Saga is a screenplay by itself! In 1986, Hartz Mountain bought the Loews Jersey to tear it down and build their own office tower on the site. It took years and years of work by preservationists (actually just regular people) that formed into a non-profit group aimed at saving the theatre called “Friends of the Loew’s” to stop the demolition until, finally, Hartz Mountain gave up. Colin Egan, the Managing Director, tells a great story about how, after years of fighting against Hartz Mountain to save the Loew’s, Hartz finally decided it wasn’t in “their best interest” to try and tear it down. (This is after offering to save the lobby portion with chandelier, and tear down the rest of the theatre… thoughts were that this would placate the preservationists… but Friends of the Loew’s wasn’t in it to save a theatre lobby), so, long story short, the Hartz Mountain attorney ended up having lunch with Friends of the Loew’s to best facilitate selling off the theatre. The cost was $400,000… and it came down to a single City Council vote well past Midnight in a sardine-packed city council chambers… and the vote was FOR saving the Loew’s Jersey. Man, you can’t make this stuff up. Someone should write a book…
beardbear31: That’s understood, but what I’m saying is that because that was done, another entity couldn’t take the theatre over and legally call it the Loew’s Kings again… although that’s what people will continue to call it going forward.
In answering MarkDHite’s post above from Oct 4th inquiring how Loew’s Jersey can still be called LOEW’S Jersey… the answer is actually quite interesting, and deals with a law on the books in the State of NJ. When a building is sold, or there’s a change of location of a store, the name of the business or store must be removed from said building.
An example:
A Boscov’s department store had to close one of it’s locations because of the current economic climate. The last thing they did was to pull the name and logos off the exterior. If they didn’t, the new owners could open up a store called “Boscov’s”.
In 1986, when Hartz Mountain bought th Loew’s Jersey from the Loew’s Corporation, the end result wasn’t that the building was going to be shuttered and sold to a new tenant… it was to be demolished. There was NO REASON to pay for a company to come in and remove the word “Loew’s” off the marquee, since, in a matter of months, it was going to come down with a wrecking ball anyways… RIGHT???
Well… WHOOPS… It didn’t come down… and Hartz Mountain sold it (Loew’s name intact) to the City of Jersey City, who then signed a long term lease with F.O.L.
F.O.L. (and Jersey City, for that matter) get to, you guessed it… call the Loew’s Jersey the LOEW’S JERSEY!
Last little tidbit:
The “Loew’s” name WAS removed from the Loew’s Kings. Only “Kings” was left on the marquee, however “Loew’s Paradise” WAS left intact, and I believe it was restored, although I don’t believe they were actually calling it with the Loew’s name attached like the Jersey does.
Joseph Serf:
Stop spreading lies. THAT is unacceptable.
a) There’s NO bird droppings anywhere in the projection room. I doubt you have ever been allowed in there, since there now are many thousands of dollars of restored equipment in there. You may have been thinking about the state of the room pre-FOL and pre-restoration, ‘cause there sure aren’t any dead birds laying around. Stop lying.
b) I have been involved with the Loew’s since 1998, and have not noticed plaster being damaged to a greater extent. I HAVE seen steps taken to make sure the plaster does NOT get worse, until the new molds can be created. Stop lying.
c) I think I’ll believe our house projectionist, over someone who’s jealous over the Loew’s Jersey, and doesn’t want them to succeed.
d) FOL restored the marquee back to usable condition (for a LOT less than was quoted to us) back in the mid-90’s. You and your “supposed friend” are a croc. Stop lying.
Oh, and welcome to our board! (but stop lying.)
Lighting under the balcony is reached by a ladder. Lighting on the top is reached by the catwalks, which encircle the coves. Little metal circles (we call them pie plates) are taken off to reach in to the sockets.
GabeDF: Hmmm…. the left front space? Do you mean the office that’s tucked away behind the left ticket booth in the outer lobby that Friends of the Loews now uses? If so, it was a store originally. Most movie palaces has retail stores on the outside theatre frontage to generate additional income. Being that it was on such an odd shaped lot, the architects could only fit one little corner store in. It was a little luncheonette that sold cigars. (I think United was the brand???) Actually, if you look up in the photo of the Jersey at the top of this page… you can JUST BARELY see the word “United” above the storefront in the picture. Next to it is the word (which you can’t see) “Cigars”. The letters and frames, as well as the double doors to this store are down in the Female Usher’s Room, in the never-built lounge section.
The store, after it closed, has had a change-around. The area is split by a wall, and the Jersey city Police have a little substation there. The Friends of the Loews share the side closest to the theatre, and for access, they made an accessway through one of the little ticket booths, which is to the left as you walk in. The “management office” is quite tiny with 5 computer stations… one of those cubicle-type affairs.
And now… the “Has-To-Be-Said” Department:
Some of you have read comments posted by Bob Furmanek regarding the Loew’s Jersey, and may be wondering why, since his first post on Sept 24, 2004 (!!), it seems like he is poo-pooing the theatre with trivial posts, such as “when I was in charge of programming… things were SO MUCH BETTER…” Take some time to look back and check out all of the posts. As you can imagine, there WAS a disagreement between the Friends of the Loews and Mr. Furmanek. The latter chose to leave on his own accord. (Hey, these things happen in life, don’t they?) In the time that Mr. Furmanek has left, much work has been accomplished on the theatre, mostly backstage to bring in concert performers. (revamped dressing rooms, and the installation of two showers. Can you believe the Loews Jersey was built with one… ONE…. shower for all the performers???) Now, mind you… I’ve been a good boy for the past FOUR years, quietly reading Mr. Furmanek’s posts, but it DOES get tiring, reading how… “he doesn’t know how many people were in attendance at the movie this past Friday… but when HE was in charge… WOO-HOO… there just HAD to be more people there.
Now, to be fair, not ALL of his posts contain something negative, and some don’t even contain the letter “I”, as in referring to how “he did something” when he was there. This is refreshing… a nice POSITIVE contribution to these boards. Nothing political in nature, or one-sided.
We still love Bob, and think he’s a great guy… Will he ever be placed back in charge of film programming…. most likely not. Why? The easiest way to describe the reason can be summed up in his own words. His posting here on December 10th, 2004 at 9:54 AM can be taken BOTH ways.
Love ya, Bob… but it’s been almost 5 years now. Let it go, huh?
Nope… no elevator. Never mind the people walking up there… think of the poor kids that had to schlep the film cans up to the projection room! And the projectors… when they came in, had to be CARRIED up to the projection room up the grand staircase. Insane? Yes!… but it had to be done.
The elevator wasn’t something that was originally planned, and then slashed due to cost-cutting in May of 1928…. (we’d know because it would be in the blueprints…) it was just never planned.
More neat Jersey trivia: it was the Assistant Manager’s office on the Orchestra floor, right next to the grand staircase, that was turned into an ADA restroom. The Manager’s office was on the 2nd floor promenade. Behind the wall in the Assistant Manager’s office, a large walk-in safe was covered over with sheetrock. That’s where all the 35-cent admissions were kept until a run to the bank!
Whoops… I believe I made a mistake. I think it was the St. George that was brazenly stolen from the Paradise tower clock… is this correct?
Nope, no elevator was ever built in the Jersey, but there are elevators in some of the other Wonder Theatres. (BTW – no luck on the heights. The blueprints I have don’t show that info.)
I believe there were possibly two times when decorative items were moved from the theatre. The first was when they triplexed the theatre in the 70’s. I believe we lost the three chandeliers in the Musician’s Gallery, and possibly water fountains, among other items…
The second was when Hartz Mountain (the owners of the Jersey when it closed in 1986) readied the theatre for demolition, and some higher-level employees (so the story goes) removed light fixtures, the two giant mirrors in frames that were alongside the entrance to the orchestra sections, original lighting fixtures in the auditorium, paintings, etc.
Colin Egan, the DIrector of the theatre, actually received a fixture back from the wife of a Hartz Executive, who, after reading that the theatre WASN’T falling to the wrecking ball, wanted to give it back, and had it dropped off at the theatre one day!
Now, if the REST of the items could find their way back… that would be great!
(Think of the Loews Paradise, and their St. George and the Dragon mechanical tower clock, identical to the one installed here at the Jersey. Someone actually got up to the Paradise clock cupola and STOLE the dragon!!!. Folks, this would not have been an easy thing to do… a sculpted copper dragon… some people are so brazen.)
GabeDF,
Brenographs are still there, and film vault as well.
The whole Projection “suite” has 5 rooms: Projection room, Battery room, Rewind room, Supply room and the Rheostat room.
I don’t know where the splicing was done. On the actual blueprints, there is a “rewind table” in the rewind room.
Let me pull down the blueprints (they’re quite large and unwieldy.) I’ll see if I can find out the heights on the Grand Lobby and Auditorium… gimme a few minutes.
No worries about broken windows in the Publicity Room… it was repaired going on two years now… All is good now, and the room has been clean! (Now, if we could only get that sink down at the end of the room to work!!! I hate going down two flights to the mezzanine bathroom to wash up after working up there!)
Ahh… yes, Bob is correct. “Publicity Room” is on the actual blueprints.
GabeDF:
There is a basement (where the never-built lounge would’ve been in the front) Also included on this floor is what I call the “Powerhouse”… most of the mechanicals in the front, the two ushers rooms down at the base of the staircase, upper dressing rooms, including the chorus' girls (Chester Hale Girls') dressing room, Organ blower room.
Down a flight brings you to the sub-basement. Only the rear is actually “finished”. This is the area that includes a 2nd set of dressing rooms (almost exactly matching the upper rooms except for the chorus room), the rehearsal hall, and a sewage pump room. There is a small ladder that leads down from the “Powerhouse” section in the front… but it’s mostly dirt… and runs back to the rear of the theatre. There’s a considerable amount of coal ash down there as well. Two old gigantic air conditioning compressors live there as well. Apparently the original ones failed within a year or two of the opening of the Jersey, and instead of removing them, they opened a hole down to the sub-basement, and dropped them down there, where they can be seen with a flashlight, still painted red, sitting there all these years.
Your other questions:
The staircase down to the never built section is directly underneath the main staircase on the left. There is a single door there, which the employees/volunteers use to get down to the Powerhouse. If you ever peer inside, you’ll notice an ODD look to the area. It is gigantic with VERY high ceilings. Instead of a grand staircase down, there’s a less-wide metal staircase (that looks odd) built in its place.
Yes, the fire escape on the right side is internal, and we call it the “fire tower”.
The room under the projection room was the “Production Room”, where they made advertising posters for the lobby, and such. It’s also used to access the roof over the Grand Lobby to get to the clock.
Basement under the lobby is divided up into about 5 rooms. Not oval shaped. That’s the Powerhouse area.
Theoretically, the lower lounge COULD be rebuilt, but in some places, there’s low head clearance for return blower ductwork.
I don’t know about the heights of the lobby or auditorium.
GabeDF:
What would you be interested in exactly with the original blueprints? If you have something specific, I’d be happy to look at them for you.
Those of you that know the Jersey might be interested in why it only has public bathrooms on the Mezzanine level… as per the blueprints, over a week in May, 1928, it went through a few cost-cutting procedures, including removing marble edging from some of the upper staircases, and the REMOVAL OF AN ENTIRE LOUNGE AREA IN THE BASEMENT!!!
Today, you can see, in the plenum under the orchestra section, the outline of where the original lounge was supposed to be. As per the blueprints, two telephone booths and a coat check room were removed. Originally, there was only a “Male Usher’s Room” (What was eventually built were two rooms for the ushers, one for male, and one for female… yes, it actually says “Female Usher’s Room” on the B-prints.)
Also, there was a room for Mat Storage… although this may be short for Materials storage.
My thinking was that the foundation was already being built along the sides of the PATH (then H&M tracks), in May of ‘28, when the changeover was ordered, blueprints re-drawn. (Both copies… the before and after, are included in the original blueprints).
Neat stuff!
Something’s going on… (or NOT going on, for that matter.) Check out this listing on RipOffReport.com, a website about companies that don’t pay their employees:
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The original blueprints have, in the lower right corner:
“C.W. & Geo. L. Rapp – Architects – 190 N. State St. Chicago – Paramount Bldg. New York”
Hope this helps.
GabeDF: After a 10-tear restoration by the GSTOS, the gigantic Loew’s Jersey Robert Morton “Wonder” Organ is now playing, and will be going through several months of tuning and testing before its public unveiling this Fall. Watch for the announcements in a month or two. Gonna be GREAT!
Response to Hal Wolverton:
The “Willie” you’re talking about that was a janitor/handyman at the Loew’s Jersey worked there longer than only 30 years. I know this will be impossible to imagine, but Willie (and I don’t have his last name near me) actually worked at the Loew’s Jersey for its complete (Pre FOL) life, from when the thearte opened in 1929, until it shut down in 1986. He was a teenager when he first started working there.
FOL has some of the huge daily journals from the Jersey dating back to the early 30’s which list the employees, how much they were paid weekly, how many dependents they support, the daily weather, and what the State and the Stanley were showing. Real neat stuff. Anyway, WIllie is in these journals.
After the theatre shut down, Hartz Mountain (the then purchaser of the Loew’s) kept Willie on to be a watchman. Colin Egan would tell me stories about dealing with Willie in the early days of FOL, and trying to save the theatre from demolition. Let’s just say he was a character, but in a good way.
He has since passed away, but I had a major recollection of hearing about Willie after reading Hal’s posting.
Tim, Maybe someone from the G.S.T.O.S. that visits here can answer your questions, as I don’t know the technical aspects about the re-installation. I know one chamber is complete, and the other is mostly (if not fully by now) complete.
Warren, that is correct, just trying to simplify things. The ornamentation on the outside of the cases also varied, as the photos of the decoration on the outside of the original Jersey Morton do not match the decoration on the outside of the Paradise Morton, now being installed at the Jersey, but the dimensions of both consoles are the same.
Yes, the theatre itself was one of the five “Loew’s Wonder Theatres”, and each of the five Wonder Theatres had identical Robert Morton Theatre Organs. The original one from the Loew’s Jersey was removed in the late ‘60’s and shipped off to California. The organ that is currently being restored and installed by the G.S.T.O.S. (Garden State Theatre Organ Society) was the organ from another of the five Loews Wonder Theatres… the Loew’s Paradise Theatre in the Bronx, NY.
More info about the “Wonder Theatre’s Robert Morton Organs” can be found here:
http://gstos.org/wonder.htm
Life’s too short: It’s because that during the restoration of the Jersey’s exterior, It was found that the steelwork inside the brick/terra cotta tower was too far gone and structually unsound after years of water leaks to safely hold the weight of another vertical sign akin to the one that was originally there.
Funny but true story: During the terra cotta restoration, the smaller, left tower (as you look at the front of the Jersey) was entered and surveyed as to what needed to be restored and protected. When the larger, right tower was entered, everyone was aghast at what they found: The innards of the tower were completely filled with old, original steel girders, utilizing MUCH more steel than possibly necessary for a skeleton for a brick and terra cotta tower. Everyone forgot that there was a huge vertical “Loew’s Jersey” vertical sign hanging off the tower 40 years prior! (Well, forgot for a few hours anyway) True story.
Original marquee is a possibility, although it would probably take underwriting from a corporation, or a MAJOR grant that is specifically awarded for “Restoration of the Loew’s Jersey Marquee”.
Vertical marquee will not be reconstructed.
JohnMessick: The Jersey’s marquee has been changed twice from the original (middle was a streamlined boxey affair with more moving neon up the edges). We have pictures of this in the archives. The current marquee is the third incarnation. But, what I’m getting at is that the original marquee, or at least the underside of it, is still present. When Loews changed the marquees from the originals, they basically changed only the three sides facing the street. Next time you’re at the Jersey, look up under the marquee, and you’ll see the “curved hat” shape of the original marquee. Yes, there are lights in the three coves under the marquee.
Resoration to the original marquee has been discussed, but it is MUCH further down on the list of priorities. Fire escape restoration… Loge, Mezzanine and Balcony seating restoration… higher up on the list.
The five Wonder Theatres were featured on A&E’s Sunday morning program “Breakfast with the Arts” today. Real nice segment, with extensive info on the Jersey and Kings. Maybe check the TV guides for rerun times.