The Gordon Center for Performing Arts recently completed a full renovation of its lobby, and will be dedicating the new space on Thursday, March 9. This marks the first time the space has been renovated since the theater opened 27 years ago. This new design reflects the Gordon Center’s greater variety of performances and art forms represented within its halls.
The center, which sits on the Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC campus, was originally opened as a venue for classical music. In the years since then, it has diversified its offerings and now offers performances featuring theater and dance, as well as film screenings and family-focused programs.
The renovations for its lobby reflect this change in focus over the performing arts center’s operating period, as well as advancements in technology since the center first opened. One of the highlights of the new lobby is a built-in free-standing video wall standing at 11 feet tall, meant to display clips of performances taking place at the Gordon Center.
Paul Lurie, the chief operations officer of the JCC of Greater Baltimore, said these renovations have been a long time coming.
“We started the conversation about renovating the lobby pre-COVID,” he said. “Obviously, those plans got put on hold … we wanted to accomplish a few goals, like improving the concession experience. We wanted to improve the aesthetic, the look and feel of the space, and the overall flow of how the space works.”
The center already boasts one of the largest movie screens in the state of Maryland, world-class acoustics and a selection of local art in the Joseph & Rebecca Meyerhoff Art Gallery. This lobby renovation means that the center’s entryway will better reflect the more modern amenities offered by the performing arts center.
The Meyerhoff Art Gallery, which is connected to the lobby, will also be receiving an update to its display space.
In a press release published in September of 2022, The Gordon Center thanked a list of donors who contributed towards the new space. These included The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore and its agencies, the Peggy & Yale Gordon Trust, the Herman & Walter Samuelson Foundation, the France-Merrick Foundation, the State of Maryland, the Herbert Bearman Foundation, the Joseph & Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds, Baltimore County and local elected officials.
The upcoming dedication of the new lobby will be attended by some of those same elected officials and Baltimore representatives. “We use this space a lot for our elected officials,” Lurie said. “We actually just had a town council meeting here.”
The renovations to the Gordon Center are only the beginning of the changes being made to JCC property this year. The main entrance to the Owings Mills JCC will be refurbished in March, with a Department of Homeland Security grant providing new security services for the space. The site’s fitness center is also going to receive renovations primarily consisting of putting in new flooring and adding updated gym equipment.
“This is a gathering space for the community at large,” Lurie said, “And we want to celebrate it as a new space to be able to offer to the community.”
