MONTCLAIR, NJ (CelebrityAccess) — The Wellmont Theater in downtown Montclair, N.J., is undergoing a $135 million renovation that will see it at the center of a new mixed-use district.
According to Venues Today, the 2,500-capacity theater will anchor a mixed-use district that encompasses 3.5 acres, and which includes 200 residential units, as well as restaurants and office space.
The theater will also see a new parking garage constructed next to the venue that will be able to accommodate tour buses and provide direct access to the theater’s back of house for load-in and load-out, as well as 250 spaces for concert-goers.
Construction is expected to start in mid-May and take up to three years to complete, Venues Today reported.
“We’re creating sort of a mini-campus with year-round programming,” Anthony Morrison, the new general manager at the Wellmont told the publication. “I’m trying to help get this place to the next level.”
Originally opened in 1922 as a Vaudeville theater, the Wellmont spent most of its life as a movie theater until it was acquired 2006 by real estate developer Greenwood Development for conversion into a music venue. Live Nation currently has an exclusive booking deal at the venue.
