William Carlos Williams Center for the Performing Arts, once the Rivoli Theater and its surrounding plaza, is central to Rutherford’s business district.  The Rivoli was a Vaudevillian theater, drawing patrons from the surrounding New York Metropolitan area.  Over decades, however, it has fallen to disrepair despite attempts to renovate and salvage the floundering theater.  The building itself is owned and supported by Bergen County, which intends to auction it to the highest bidder in August 2021. 

The Mayor and Council, through Neglia Engineering, has offered a redevelopment plan based upon a 7 to 9 story building to include a theater, retail and housing or hotel, complete with a liquor license, to induce a developer to save part or all of the theater.  This plan is far outside of the parameters of the Master Plan.  Should it be approved it would cause traffic and congestion, among a plethora of other issues detrimental to the surrounding neighborhood.  Further, insufficient parking allotted would also take street parking away from area restaurants during show times – peak dining hours.  Should the plan be defeated, any developer would need to build within existing zoning.  Neither scenario would guarantee the theater be saved:  The first would set a bad precedent and be detrimental to the area as a whole; the second would only save the theater if an ‘Angel Investor’ were found.

Update: Planning Board Meeting May 19, 2022

Native Development, under the auspices of Stonefield Engineering, requested Amendments to the Redevelopment Plan (Planning Board Agenda 05192022). These Amendments were forwarded by the Council to the Planning Board with out scrutiny or comment. Members of the Council stated they preferred to rely on the processes in place, rather than raise issues. Several concerned citizens, including members of PRNJ were able to speak to Chuck Olivo directly, however.

Since that meeting the Amendments have been adjusted by Native Development to reflect some of the important concerns of PRNJ and the Public. While there are still several issues of concern, the adjustments now reflect a commitment by the developer to the 650-seat Theater outlined and incentivized by the Redevelopment Plan.

Update July 2021 Auction Averted, Developer Named

Bergen County and the Borough of Rutherford have come to an agreement to facilitate the Redevelopment of the Williams Center property by Chuck Olivo, designated developer.  The terms of the transfer, at the cost of $1, enabled the Borough to avoid loss of the property through auction and have control over the development.

The agreement seeks to ensure a Theater and Arts development which will include Residential and Retail components. 

Prior Update June  2021 Rejection of Planning Board’s Recommendations The Mayor and Council have announced they are rejecting the Planning Board’s Recommendations. The first vote will be held Monday, June 14 at 6:30PM to certify the initial Neglia Redevelopment Plan for the William Carlos Williams/Theater District Redevelopment Area. The Planning Board spent much time and effort gathering community, including input and educated opinions from community theater industry members, and crafted a list of official recommendations. The goal of the Planning Board’s recommendations was to lighten the impact of the potential 9-story structure on the surrounding downtown and nearby historic residential area. The Planning Board included seating recommendations for maximizing the profitability of any theater component included in the plan, whether for restored or newly constructed theater(s). Also important is to note is that the Planning Board recommended the removal of the residential version of the plan, and were focusing on the construction of a boutique hotel in support of either restoration of the the existing theater(s) or the construction of new.

By rejecting the Planning Board’s Recommendations, the Mayor and Council are rejecting the concerns of both the Citizens of Rutherford and the Municipality's own internally appointed board of planning experts. In essence, they are repudiating the Community itself, and those they have selected to represent it.

As the Planning Board’s recommendations were not released to the public, PRNJ submitted an OPRA to obtain the document. Many are critical. The first 3 are here:

• Imposition of a height limitation of eight (8) stories maximum, with additional ten (10) foot maximum parapet for mechanical systems.

• Include a provision in the Redevelopment Plan requiring a reduction of visual mass by way of setbacks on upper stories or other creative architectural features.

• Include a provision in the Redevelopment Plan permitting any hotel to have a patio bar and/or a small banquet/event facility subject to issuance and approval of liquor license.

READ THE ENTIRE LIST OF PLANNING BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS

Neglia Engineering’s Redevelopment Plan for the William Carlos Williams/Theater District Area Please find below Neglia’s Redevelopment Plan, released to the public at the December 14, 2020 Mayor and Council meeting. This version of the Redevelopment Plan encompasses the entire block of downtown Rutherford from Park Avenue to Orient Way, and from Spring Dell to Glen Road. Note that the 2016 version of the Redevelopment Plan adopted by the Mayor and Council included only the Williams Center Lot and the lots that comprise the current municipal parking area.

NEGLIA ENGINEERING'S REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS/THEATER DISTRICT AREA