There's a home in N.J. for aging entertainers with a script for expansion

The home has cared for retired entertainment professionals for more than a century.

ENGLEWOOD -- The Lillian Booth Actors Home likely has more pianos per resident than any other long-term care facility.

The home has cared for retired musicians, actors, writers and other entertainment professionals since 1902, when it opened in Staten Island, moving to Englewood in 1959.

Now the Actors Fund, a nonprofit that acts as a safety net for entertainers and operates the home, is embarking on a $31 million renovation of the building, with the help of $25 million in tax-free state bonds.

"The home is our crown jewel," said Joe Benecaso, CEO of the Actors Fund.

The home was named for Lillian Booth, an heiress from Alpine who donated $2 million to the home in 2007.

Over the years, the home has housed entertainers like Joseph Sultzer and Charles Marks, better known as vaudeville comedy duo Smith & Dale and the inspiration for the Neil Simon play "The Sunshine Boy," jazz singer Mark Murphy and actress Sheila MacRae.

It is increasingly cramped. The 124-bed assisted living and nursing facility must turn away about 20 people a month and refer them to other facilities, Benecaso said.

The renovation will increase the capacity of the home to 169 beds and add a 20-bed memory care unit and a 25-bed acute care center for patients recovering from surgery or illness. The work should take two years, finishing in summer 2018.

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Barbara Davis, the chief operating officer of the Actors Fund, said the home was responding not only to the growing demand for beds now, but also in the future as Baby Boomers begin to retire.

While the fund had raised about $11.5 million in donations, Benecaso said the project would not be possible without the tax-exempt state bonds. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved the bonds at its July meeting.

The project will revamp about 55,000 square feet of space at the facility and replace much of the original 1959 building. When the work is done, the home will have a new level.