The Pompidou, Paris’ temple of modern art, plans NJ branch

Paris’ acclaimed Pompidou Center announced plans Friday to open a satellite museum in what is now a gutted industrial building in New Jersey’s Jersey City, not far from where Lady Liberty stands in New York Harbor.

Centre Pompidou x Jersey City, scheduled to open in 2024, would be the French museum’s first venture in North America, said Centre Pompidou President Serge Lasvignes. It currently has sites in Metz, France; Shanghai, China; Malaga, Spain; and Brussels, Belgium.

The satellite would be completed in time for the start of a major renovation of the Pompidou’s landmark Paris museum, which houses more than 120,000 modern works of art in its unique architecture of exposed colored pipes and air ducts.

Jersey City hasn’t historically been widely visited by the hordes of tourists who come to New York City area each year, but it is an easy train ride from Lower Manhattan.

While the French would provide the art and expertise, Jersey City would provide the cash.

The small city would pay up to $6 million phased in over the cost of the five-year contract for the Pompidou’s exhibitions, projects and educational programming, Mayor Steven Fulop said. In addition, the city would have to cover the estimated $30 million it would cost to renovate the Pathside Building.