Gordon Center Goes Dark to Make Way for Brighter Lights

The Gordon Center for Performing Arts, located on the campus of the Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC is undergoing a major renovation of its lobby, the first since it opened in 1995.  These state-of-the-art renovations will be showcased during the JCC’s signature event, J Live on Thursday, January 12 at 7:00pm.

When the 550-seat Gordon Center opened 27 years ago with generous funding from the Peggy and Yale Gordon trust, at the time, it was mainly a venue for classical music. Today, the Gordon Center offers a multi-disciplinary performance season of live music, dance, family programs, and film, and is the home of the JCC’s William and Irene Weinberg Family Baltimore Jewish Film Festival.  It is also considered the premier performing arts venue in Baltimore County and the centerpiece of the JCC’s Center for Arts & Culture which includes Gordon Outdoors—an outdoor event/performance space, youth arts, and virtual cultural programming for adults.

Once renovations are completed, the newly reimagined lobby will enhance the patron experience and support its use as a dynamic venue for the JCC, its agencies, and external community partners. The lobby will feature a more open, contemporary floor plan and layout with a larger concession area, a built-in 11 ft. free-standing video wall, new carpeting, LED lighting, and an updated display space in the Joseph & Rebecca Meyerhoff Gallery.  

These improvements in design, technology and functionality will further ensure the programmatic and financial sustainability of the Gordon Center for Performing Arts by increasing rental income and attracting enhanced partnership opportunities.

The Gordon Center is grateful for 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, our local elected officials, and various other donors for making this renovation possible.

The Gordon lobby and theater are currently closed while the work is under way. The renovation is expected to be completed by mid-November, followed by the re-dedication of the space at J Live on January 12.