Curtain rises on South Jersey’s newest performing arts center in Willingboro

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Saturday marks the grand opening of Willingboro Township’s new performing arts center. R&B group Atlantic Starr will be the venue’s first show. Fellow legends The Manhattans and Latin percussionist Tito Puente Jr. will visit in the coming weeks.

The Willingboro Performing Arts Center, inside of the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center, is a 570-seat venue that was once an auditorium. Bobby Duckett, the venue’s manager, said they wanted to change the feel of the space to more of a theater setting.

“What we wanted to do was be able to take it from that auditorium feel, which is just bright and wide,” Duckett said. “That’s when we added the legs to give you the proscenium look of a theater, the lighting that we use up in the ceiling to make it feel dark and make it feel more intimate.”

The venue also includes state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems along with a video wall on stage and dressing rooms.

Duckett said their vision is to bring art, entertainment and education events to the new venue. The center wants to book not only national acts, but local and regional acts as well, from plays, concerts and podcasts.

“We’re going to try to create a speaker series for next year,” he said. “We’re also doing our inaugural film festival, which will be throughout the building in conjunction with the high school.”

Having spent more than 40 years in the entertainment industry, Duckett said he wants to provide an opportunity to train the next generation of entertainment professionals.

“I can sit here and help nurture talent and grow talent, put them in a place where they’re learning it at a high level,” he said, adding that industry renowned lighting directors and sound engineers will be coming to work at the venue.

“If you want to be in this business, you’re going to be taught by the best,” Duckett added.

The new venue cost nearly $2 million to construct, with the township and the state splitting the cost, according to township officials.

With the new venue, Willingboro Township Mayor Samantha Whitfield said in a statement that she hopes the Kennedy Center becomes “a catalyst for economic development-bringing new activity, new businesses, new investments, and new opportunities into our community.”

“Just as importantly, I hope it becomes a place that brings Willingboro together,” she said. “A place for performances and celebrations. A place for our young people to discover and showcase their talents. A place for our seniors, families, artists, organizations, and neighbors to gather. A place where new memories are made.”

The venue was 15 years in the making, according to Amy Dean, executive director of the Faith In Action Ministries, a community organization based in Willingboro. She has memories of the former space as a high school student. She later worked for the township organizing events.

“We brought in people like Jill Scott, Pieces of the Dream, Ramsey Lewis, Dr. Bertice Berry, etc.,” Dean said. “It’s been part of my life since I’ve been in Willingboro.”

Dean’s organization was the first to try the new performance space over the summer. A performing arts summer camp that they run held their show in the new space as a soft opening. She is excited to see the space alive again, to provide new opportunities to people.

“I think it’s incredible. I think that the township is definitely much better because of this space,” she said. “And I feel like it’s going to make another mark in Willingboro.”