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Jersey City's new venue White Eagle Hall will officially open on Friday, May 5, with a free concert by local favorites Rye Coalition.

It's official!

The renovated White Eagle Hall in Downtown Jersey City opens on Friday, May 5, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Mayor Steven Fulop, followed by a performance by Jersey City favorite musican sons Rye Coalition.

The event will be free and open to the public, starting outdoors at 4:30 p.m. with the opening ceremonies and performances by local dance troupes and actors from the Jersey City Theater Company. At 6 p.m., the action moves inside.

For its first official concert, White Eagle Hall couldn't have made a better choice than Rye Coalition, whose members grew up in Jersey City and have long been identified as the town's quintessential local band. Sunshine & The Rain, featuring Rye Coalition bassist Justin Morey and his wife Ashley, open the show.

Free hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar will be available.

"It's an honor," Rye Coalition drummer Dave Leto said. "I have fond memories as a small child playing basketball there during St. Anthony's practices on weekends. It's a legendary building. As far as Jersey City music goes, we were probably one of the first to go on tour and leave the area, but Jersey City will always be our home."

The new White Eagle Hall will be hosting live music, theater, comedy, and special events, and also be available for weddings and private events. The Jersey City Theater Company, which will be housed at the hall, staged the first live performances there in 40 years last month.

The historic structure was built by Polish immigrants in 1910 and for much of the 20th century hosted events and programs under the aegis of St. Anthony's Church and High School. For years, the famous St. Anthony's High School basketball team under Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley practiced at White Eagle Hall, and the wooden boards from that gym floor have been repurposed in modernizing the facility.

In the 2000s, after years of disuse and disrepair, White Eagle Hall seemed fated for demolition until the Ben Piccolo Development Corp. bought the building. It's taken several years to restore the building, not only to make it structurally sound but also to add a state-of-the-art sound system, lighting, and soundproofing.

The main ballroom offers 8,000 square feet of space, holding 800 standing (600 if the balcony is closed), or 400 seated patrons. Future plans include everything from live music, comedy, and theater to wedding receptions and private parties. In addition, the complex houses two restaurants, Madame Claude Bis and Cellar 335.

Heath Miller of Excess dB Entertainment has just been announced as the booker for music and other events; his resume' includes currently being the talent buyer for Manhattan's Webster Hall, a previous stint at New Jersey's Mexicali Live, as well as a successful career in concert promotion, talent management, and festival organization.

"I'm really excited that Jersey City will finally have the kind of venue it deserves," Miller said. "We were trying to figure out a real Jersey City band that the community would relate to and I'm so glad we got Rye Coalition.

"We're definitely going to be doing a good mix of seated and standing shows over the course of the first year, and I'm going to try and bring a wide variety of music in, from your standard rock 'n' roll to more left of center indie, to pop stuff, to some metal and punk. We'll probably bring a little hip hop in, and some younger shows, some older shows."

Jersey City itself will be a big inspiration to what people get to see at White Eagle Hall, Miller said.

"The programming is going to be diverse because Jersey City is diverse," he said. "I want to be able to work with good local partners who can bring in some cultural music, Indian or Filipino or any group that has a large population in Jersey City. I don't want this place to be just for the rock people, I want to make sure we have something for everyone."

The hall can be configured differently for various events, Miller noted, so not every concert has to be geared to an 800-person crowd.

"For instance, we can do a cabaret set up for smaller, more intimate shows," he said. "And there are two restaurants right under the room and a kitchen upstairs, so there is the ability to incorporate food into events. I want to try and do some beer and wine-tasting events, and some interesting food events. I've been really involved with the James Beard Foundation and they do an annual Jersey City event already at Mana, so I'm hoping we can tie White Eagle Hall into that and maybe do an after-party or something."

Miller has been booking Webster Hall for years, and noted that something he tried there might work well at White Eagle Hall as well.

"We actually did a food lab where we put a kitchen right up on stage and a famous chef cooked in front of everyone," he said, "and then the audience got to taste the food after the cooking demonstration. That would be really fun to do here.

"After the L train shuts down in 2018, a lot of Jersey people aren't going to want to go to Brooklyn, so that will make this spot even more attractive. That gives us a year to get established, and then once the L train isn't running into Manhattan, the standard for bands will be that if they're playing Brooklyn, they should also be playing Jersey City. Or if they're playing Manhattan and skipping Brooklyn, they should be playing Jersey City. And if you're big enough to sell out your Brooklyn show and your Manhattan show, then you should be playing Jersey City, too. I think that will just become the norm."

There's "plenty of parking" in that part of Downtown Jersey City, Miller said, but even so, he thinks the proximity of the Grove Street PATH station will make White Eagle Hall a destination venue for concertgoers from New York City and New Jersey.

"It's such a short walk, it's a couple of minutes down Newark Avenue and then you're at the pedestrian mall and then you're at the PATH train," he said. "I know people will be driving but I really hope a lot of them take mass transportation, it's really an ideal spot. And much closer to the PATH than Maxwell's in Hoboken used to be."

IF YOU GO:

White Eagle Hall, 335-337 Newark Ave., Jersey City, will officially open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and live entertainment outdoors at 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 5, followed by indoor performances by Rye Coalition and Sunshine & The Rain at 6. Admission is free but space is limited so White Eagle Hall urges attendees to RSVP at www.wehjc.com.