White Eagle Hall

Jersey City's historic White Eagle Hall reopening in May (with Rye Coalition)

Since it opened in 1910, White Eagle Hall, located at 335 Newark Avenue, has been a community center; an events space for dances, graduations, dinners, and weddings; the host of St. Anthony’s weekly bingo game; a teenage hangout in the late 1960s and early 1970s for rock & roll and “battle of the bands;” and even a practice facility for the St. Anthony Friars, St. Anthony High School’s exceptional, 23-time-state-champion, basketball team. But since 2011, Ben LoPiccolo and his real estate development group, BLDG, have been reimagining and restoring the space, preserving the building’s craftsmanship and creating a venue that is sure to put Jersey City on the performance tour map.

…BLDG has done a beautiful job with the original details. The stained-glass was restored in Wyckoff, New Jersey; the original tin ceiling tiles were preserved; the balcony ironwork was restored and raised to a safe height, and the wood flooring The Friars ran up and down for hours during countless basketball practices is now the bar tops and the balcony flooring. The original St. Anthony’s Bingo Game sign even hangs inside the service entrance. But the past meets the present in the main space where the ultimate in sound and lighting determined every detail.

Built like a recording studio, a room within a room, the main space is both soundproof and acoustically superior with sound isolation springs in the floors and walls and custom panels throughout that absorb and diffuse sound. [Jersey Digs]

Jersey City’s historic White Eagle Hall has been restored and it will re-open this May, as the Jersey Digs article quoted above points out. The venue will have a capacity of 800 standing or 400 seated, and shows will have full bar service and food. They’re also planning a ticket subscription service and VIP access and perks. The venue’s ticket booth is the restored altar from the recently converted St. Boniface Church. More info and pics here.

The venue opens on May 5 with an official ribbon cutting ceremony and opening celebration at 4:30 PM with Mayor Steven Fulop. Later that night, the venue will host its first concert. Beloved Jersey rockers Rye Coalition (whose shows are few and far between these days) will headline, and Sunshine & The Rain will open. Doors are at 6 PM and it’s totally free.

The rest of White Eagle Hall’s schedule is TBA.