FINANCIAL DISTRICT — After years of setbacks, plans for the long-delayed Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center are finally ready to make their debut.
The newest vision for the 90,000-square-foot Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center at The World Trade Center was unveiled Thursday, along with the announcement that famed Brooklyn-born singer Barbra Streisand would chair the theater's board.
The expansive arts space, which is now being referred to as The Perelman Center, will rise about 130 feet, in the shape of a cube.
The center, at the corner of Fulton and Greenwich streets, will be constructed from a translucent marble, laminated with glass, giving it an opaque look during the day, but will glow at night with the internal light from performances.
Rendering by LUXIGON, courtesy of The Perelman Center
The design details for the theater come just a few days before the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and more than 10 years after plans for an arts space at the World Trade Center site began. The space is slated to open in 2020, the center announced Thursday.
Rendering by LUXIGON, courtesy of The Perelman Center
Visitors to the space will walk up a 21-foot high staircase to get from the 9/11 memorial plaza into the theater.
Rendering by LUXIGON, courtesy of The Perelman Center
The theater is meant to be a cultural hub for dance, music and a host of other arts, center officials said Thursday.
Inside, the space will house three tractable theaters (that can hold 499, 250 and 99 people respectively), as well as a rehearsal space, which can all be combined to create one massive theater space if needed.
Rendering by LUXIGON, courtesy of The Perelman Center
There will also be a flexible lobby area restaurant and bar space.
Rendering by LUXIGON, courtesy of The Perelman Center
Brooklyn-based designers, REX Architecture, describe the center as a "mystery box."
“The Perelman Center is an immensely flexible canvas on which directors can script the patrons’ entire experience from their very entrance into the building," said REX architect, Joshua Prince-Ramus, in a statement. "It is a ‘mystery box,’ a constant source of surprise for theatergoers and the community."
The latest, and seemingly final, iteration of the arts center is paired down version of previous designs.
The center had been bogged down by years of budget issues and redesigns, but last year, hope was renewed when the theater was finally given approval for its pared-down budget of about $240 million by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation — a cut from its initial $400 million estimate.
The center was also given a big boost when billionaire Ronald Perelman announced in June that he was giving the theater a $75 million donation.
For more information, and renderings, head to The Perelman Center's website.
