Performing Arts Center Adds to Queens Revitalization

JAMAICA, NY-Construction work has begun on the new $10.4-million Jamaica Performing Arts Center, a 400-seat performance venue that is part of the city’s effort to revitalize Queens. The 12,000-sf center will be located inside the 146-year-old First Reformed Church of Jamaica at 153-10 Jamaica Ave., which is designated as a city, state and national landmark.

New York City architectural firm Wank Adams Slavin Associates LLP heads up the design effort. The existing Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, a Neo-Renaissance landmark built in 1898 and located down the street, is also being renovated using a master plan devised by WASA. The project is expected to be complete in the summer of 2006.

The city’s Department of Design and Construction and Department of Cultural Affairs commissioned the project on behalf of three local cultural groups, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Cultural Collaborative Jamaica and the Black Spectrum Theater. The adaptive reuse will transform the church into a flexible theater space, with about 325 seats on the main level and 75 seats in the balcony.