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The DMR Architects-designed Hackensack Performing Arts Center recently received the 2018 Bergen County Historic Preservation Award for its adaptive reuse of the former Masonic Temple in downtown Hackensack.

The DMR Architects-designed Hackensack Performing Arts Center recently received the 2018 Bergen County Historic Preservation Award for its adaptive reuse of the former Masonic Temple in downtown Hackensack.

DMR rehabbed the 140-year-old building, with renovations including the transformation of the original meeting hall into a 224-seat theater along with the construction of a new gallery space

The purchase and rehabilitation of the property was one of the first projects the city embarked on after adopting its Downtown Rehabilitation Plan in 2012 to revitalize the county capital’s downtown district into a mixed-use, walkable area.

The plan encompasses 163 acres on 39 city blocks.

“The repurpose of the Masonic Temple into the Hackensack Performing Arts Center was a watershed moment that resulted in attracting dozens of real estate developers to invest in Hackensack’s revival,” Mayor John Labrosse said. “Since then, DMR’s creativity and ingenuity can be seen all over Hackensack from the new traffic patterns to the new open spaces and residential communities coming online every day.”