$10 million upgrade: Jay Leno to cut the ribbon on a new bergenPAC

BergenPAC in Englewood is rising again. Not from the ashes, like a phoenix — but from a phoenix into a more modern, more splendiferous phoenix.

Jay Leno will officially cut the ribbon, on Saturday, April 8, at a ceremony that will usher in the new Bergen Performing Arts Center, replete with $10 million worth of improvements.

"It's always great to have Jay Leno here," said Frank Huttle III, former mayor of Englewood, and founder of bergenPAC (his wife, former state Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, is chair).

But will Leno, who has performed at bergenPAC in the past, even recognize the place?

BergenPAC makeover

New carpeting, new lighting, 1,367 new seats, a restored proscenium, a rebuilt lobby with an expanded concession stand and bar, additional bathrooms, a "Spotlight Lounge," a VIP "Legends Lounge," and hand-painted gold highlights on columns and arches will help bring the theater back to its glory of 1926 — the year it opened as the Englewood Plaza Movie Theatre.

Leno has been a big booster of the venue throughout its history — notably at a virtual March 2021 gala fundraiser, when COVID was at its height and bergenPAC, like most live performance venues, was at low ebb.

"He spoke from his Leno's Garage and gave his personal and passionate support," Huttle said. "We consider Jay part of our family here."

Saturday marks the official opening of the refurbished theater. It's been open since October after shutting down for seven months to accommodate the upgrade. Stars ranging from Paula Poundstone to Paul Anka to William Shatner have appeared since the soft opening.

A whole new world

Guests who come to see Leno wield the scissors, and later perform at the 8 p.m. "Grand Opening Event," can also take in the eye-popping new venue that bergenPAC has become.

"The front of the house, we completely demo'd it, gutted it," Huttle said. The 2.0 version, he said, marries 20th-century high style with 21st-century technology.

"It has a completely new feeling that blends perfectly into the 1926 main hall inside," Huttle said. "It's a newer, cooler feel, but still maintaining the heritage. The whole feel is different. When you walk in, you're going to see the main bar. That's the focal point, walking in. To the left you'll see the Spotlight Lounge."

Even more impressive than what you see is some of the stuff you won't see — the upgrades to the sound and lighting that will make the bergenPAC experience truly stellar, Huttle promises.

"There's technology all over the place, he said. "State-of-the-art lighting and sound. New LED Samsung screens around the theater in the lobby area: two big ones in the Spotlight Lounge, one above the main bar, and one in the Legends Lounge."

The $10 million in upgrades, Huttle said, are part of a multi-year, $15 million capital campaign. Sixty percent of the funding is coming from Bergen County; another 40 percent is coming from private donors, foundations and corporations.

"This would never have happened without the support of everyone in our region," Huttle said.

Red-carpet event

To thank the folks with the deep pockets, on Saturday, April 8, bergenPAC is rolling out the red carpet.

A private event, at 5 p.m., will kick off the day at Benzel-Busch Motor Car, the Mercedes-Benz dealership on Grand Avenue (president Joseph Agresta is a major bergenPAC donor).

Leno, known to the world as a classic car enthusiast, will be on hand — and from there will motor down to nearby bergenPAC on North Van Brunt Street. The actual ribbon-cutting, open to the public, is expected to be at 6:45. Then, at 8 p.m., Leno will cap the evening with his show.

"We wanted to celebrate with Jay Leno because he loved bergenPAC," said Angela Thomas, bergenPAC's media relations representative.

By any name, the venue has had a roller-coaster history from the time it opened, at the end of the silent era, as a first-run movie theater. It showed its last flick in 1973 — but three years later, impresario John Harms reopened the space as a concert venue, the John Harms Center.

A new beginning

Beset in later years by financial difficulties, the Harms closed its doors in 2003. It reopened shortly afterward, through a public-private partnership, as the Bergen Performing Arts Center: bergenPAC.

In the years that followed, bergenPAC turned into a major media and recording venue, through a fiber-optic connection with the nearby — now defunct — Bennett Studios. It also drew stars: Aretha Franklin, Ringo Starr, Jack Antonoff, Diana Ross and Willie Nelson are just some of the names that have appeared on its marquee.

And now, the future. This biggest phase of the restoration, Huttle said, is not the end.

A new facade and a new LED marquee are expected to be added within a year. In three to five years, the next $5 million from the $15 million capital campaign (yet to be raised) will be put to work. The money will help, among other things, restore the historic building housing the Performing Arts School at bergenPAC. Created in 2004, the school is now at the site of the old Bennett studios.

"The future of the theater is here today," Huttle said. "What we wanted to accomplish, we've done. Now we're going to continue down that road."

For more information, visit bergenpac.org.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Englewood NJ: Jay Leno to cut ribbon at new bergenPAC