PAC Benefaction

The proposed Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center (PACWTC) that was promised to the Lower Manhattan community more than a decade ago took one giant step and one baby step toward becoming a reality. The giant step came on Wednesday, when the organization’s leadership team announced that billionaire businessman, investor, and philanthropist Ronald Perelman (the 36th richest American, and 80th richest person in the world) has agreed to donate $75 million to the project, which is now expected to open in the first half of 2020. As part of this understanding, the PACWTC will be now be named the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, in his honor.

The baby step happened earlier last Sunday, when the Port Authority closed the “temporary” Vesey Street entrance to the World Trade Center PATH station. This clears the way for the eventual demolition of the above-ground portion of that structure, which has for more than a decade occupied the site within the Trade Center complex that planners had set aside for the PACWTC.

	Philanthropist Ron Perelman, who has agreed to donate $75 million toward the construction of the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, which will be named in his honor.

“My hope and expectation is that the PAC will be more than a performance venue,” Mr. Perelman said. “It will represent the vitality and energy that has emerged in response to the tragedy of 9/11, and it will be a constant reminder of resilience and healing through artistic expression and community.”

“All of us at the PAC are profoundly grateful to Ronald for his extraordinary support of this project,” said Maggie Boepple, president director of the PACWTC. “We have seen firsthand his passion for the arts and his deep understanding of their impact on the lives of all New Yorkers. We share a vision of a PAC that is both a birthplace for the finest in the contemporary performing arts and a vital hub for all members of the Downtown community. We look forward to his partnership and guidance as the PAC takes shape in the years ahead.”

Maggie Boepple, president director of the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center.

This development was greeted with enthusiasm by Lower Manhattan leaders. “We want to thank Ronald Perelman for his extraordinary gift to the PAC,” said Jessica Lappin, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York. “His generosity will bring an inspiring cultural institution to Lower Manhattan and help ensure the full completion of the World Trade Center site.” She added “a dynamic PAC will not only enhance the cultural life of the neighborhood and city, but it will be a powerful force shaping the exciting transformation of Lower Manhattan’s economy and character.”

Mr. Perelman’s affiliation with the PACWTC comes on the heels of a stormy tenure as chairman of the board of Carnegie Hall, a post from which he resigned in September of last year, after feuding with that organization’s executive team about the institution’s financial management. But his support for cultural organizations is longstanding: He has donated lavishly to the Guggenheim Museum (where he once served as chairman); the Apollo Theater Foundation (where he is currently serves as vice chairman); Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., the  Museum of Modern Art (where he is a trustee) and the Tribeca Film Institute.

	The Central Public Library in Seattle, Washington,  designed by REX.

The gift from Mr. Perelman and the closure of the Vesey Street PATH entrance follow other goods news for PACWTC in recent months. Last fall, the project received an additional $10 million, which will partially fund design and engineering work that must be completed before construction can begin. And a few weeks later, the project’s leaders announced that they had selected a Brooklyn-based firm, REX to design the 80,000 square-foot building, which will produce and premiere works of theater, dance, music, musical theater, opera, and film, as well as productions that cross multiple disciplines.

REX has attracted attention and critical praise in recent years for striking designs that have included the Seattle Central Library and the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, part of AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas. The announcement also noted that REX will be collaborating with Davis Brody Bond (as executive architect), Charcoalblue (as theater consultant), and DBI Projects (as construction project manager).