The Upper Main Alliance is raising money to complete the center.
HACKENSACK -- Next to residences, retail, education or transportation, the arts might not seem like the most important ingredient for a successful downtown.
But Jerome Lombardo, Chairman of the Upper Main Street Alliance, is a believer.
"Whatever dollars you put into the arts you get back tenfold," he said.
That's why the Upper Main Alliance is helping to raise funds to renovate a former Masonic Temple for use as a city performing arts center.
The Upper Main Alliance consulted several experts when it first envisioned a rehabilitation of the city downtown. They all mentioned the arts as a key ingredient.
So the organization made sure to find a home for the performing arts in the new downtown: a former church on the corner of Atlantic and State streets last used as a Masonic Temple.
The city purchased the building for $715,000 in 2010 and spent $250,000 to renovate the first floor. In 2015, the city approved a $1.5 million bond to convert the second floor into a performance space with 224 seats, said Fran Reiner, development consultant for Hackensack.
It will take an additional $750,000 to add lighting, sound system and electrical components to complete the theater, Lombardo said. To raise the money, the Upper Main Alliance is hosting a gala benefit for the center May 20 at the Hasbrouck Heights Hilton. All the donations will go toward the center.
The city isn't trying to compete with the Bergen Performing Arts Center, a well established venue in Englewood that hosts nearly 150 events each year, Lombardo said. The Hackensack Performing Arts Center will cater more toward community arts groups, with some professional performances. Programming will be decided by a cultural arts board.
The city has a performing arts space on Broadway, but Lombardo said the new center will be closer to the downtown.
Events will help bring audiences and performers to downtown businesses and restaurants, Lombardo said. Property values near public parks and cultural facilities tend to be higher, Reiner added.
"There are a lot of economic impacts for these types of facilities," Reiner said.
The city hopes to bid out the work in May, with bids coming back in June and awarded in July, Reiner said. The aim is to have the facility open in early 2017.
The Upper Main Alliance is soliciting donations from dozens of corporate and private donors.
"We're getting great cooperation from the mayor and council, who are also believers," Lombardo said.
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.