Carteret Performing Arts Center Opens This Saturday

CARTERET, NJ — This Saturday, Dec. 4 the Carteret Performing Arts & Events Center will fling open its doors for the very first time.

The brand-new concert hall is located at 46 Washington Avenue in Carteret. Located at the site of the former Ritz movie theater, this will be the first time Carteret has ever had an in-town concert hall.

The theater is located in what's being branded as the new "Carteret Arts District," which centers around Washington Avenue.

United Roosevelt Savings, a local Carteret bank, purchased the naming rights for the next 10 years after donating $1 million to help build the theater.

The CPAC, as its known, is described as state of the art, with a Broadway-quality stage, superior sound and lighting, and basement and roof venues.

Mayor Dan Reiman said he envisions the CPAC being used for trade shows, indoor sports such as boxing matches, comedy shows, culinary arts festivals, educational programming for local kids and schools, and conventions.

All spaces inside the CPAC, plus the roof, are available for rent.

While the theater can only seat 1,600, town officials say it has the capability to host Broadway-caliber shows, concerts, smaller sporting events, trade shows, corporate meetings and social events such as weddings and parties. It also has a 300-seat black box theater, a 5,000 square-foot art gallery and a rooftop that can accommodate up to 250 people.

The Smithereens will be the first to perform at the venue Saturday night. Doors open to the public at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are still available at CarteretPAC.com. The Smithereens are a rock band that originated in Carteret and are in the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

The CPAC already has shows lined up all through the month of December, including an Eagles tribute band and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra holiday concert.

Gov. Phil Murphy will attend the ribbon-cutting for the performing arts center at noon this Saturday, followed by a public tour of the venue from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

The Performing Arts Center has been a vision 10 years in the making, and part of an ambitious plan currently underway to revitalize Carteret: Under Reiman's administration, Carteret opened a boat marina, seeks to turn its formerly industrial waterfront into a public park with bike paths and even hopes to one day launch Manhattan ferry service direct from the Carteret waterfront.

And now Carteret has a concert hall.

Just up the road, Rahway has long had a performing arts center and the Avenel Performing Arts Center opened in Woodbridge in 2019.

The Smithereens were founded in 1980 and have been performing for past 41 years. All surviving members of the group, Jim Babjak (guitar), Dennis Diken (drums), and Mike Mesaros (bass) grew up together in Carteret. Lead singer, the late Pat DiNizio who died in 2017, hailed from Scotch Plains.

They were inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Class of 2018. Special guest vocalists Robin Wilson and Marshall Crenshaw together.

Construction of the Carteret Performing Arts Center was partially funded through grants: $2 million from the state of New Jersey, $6 million through a Middlesex County public arts initiative, private donors, land sales, settlements with polluters, and donations from corporate entities, including Amazon, Crow Holdings and United Roosevelt Savings Bank. Additional funds came from the Borough of Carteret capital account, redevelopment initiatives and Carteret Business Partnership funds.

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