The good parts we know about for sure: the Centre Pompidou is a first rate art museum in Paris, genuinely one of the best in the world. Thousands of visitors go to it every year; it is a very big deal. There are other “branches” of it outside of Paris, but none of them in North America, so JC would be the first.

The potential red flags that have people concerned: it’s unclear what the financial commitment from the city is going to be — the Times article linked above places the number between $10million-$30million to start (with an additional $6million per year, forever) and there is a LOT of space between those numbers. It also states that the city expects to get private donors and state money — if it has those things lined up already, that hasn’t been made public. I’m confused as to why the French government — which funds the Centre Pompidou — isn’t kicking in some money, since I assume they’re getting something out of this deal as well, but that hasn’t come up.

Remember this is hitting right at a time when our schools desperately need money, the Recreation budget has been effectively gutted, and there is profound need all around us. So if a lot of people sound nervous or unhappy about this whole plan, that’s where some of the anxiety is coming from.

A little history: the original Jersey City Museum opened in 1901 and for years was part of the main branch of the library, downtown. In 2001 under then Mayor Bret Schundler, it moved to a custom building at the corner of Monmouth and Montgomery. It was a great little museum for about nine years, and it mixed JC history artifacts with art by local artists, as well as work by artists from around the world. It closed in 2010 due to the economic downturn and their inability to sustain funding from private donors. The collection was then transferred to Rutgers.

It seems like the new museum will be quite different: It looks like their programming will be similar to the programming the Pompidou does in Paris; it will feature shows and a collection that are generated there. It will not be a local museum, or showcase local history or local artists, unless there are changes made to the plan.

How will this effect the overall neighborhood/affordability/infrastructure, etc? We don't know yet. If studies on these things have been done, they have not been released to the public.

When is this going to happen? If everything goes according to plan, it’s being predicted it will open in early 2024. It still has to go in front of the City Council in order to be official, but it’s likely to get passed since the Mayor, who is the driving force behind the plan, has a majority there.

Features