Boost for arts - and Newark

New Jersey Gov. Thomas H. Kean has announced plans to build a major performing-arts center in Newark, with regional satellite facilities in four other communities around the state. The proposed complex would be second in size only to Lincoln Center in New York and would consist of an opera house (seating 3,000), a concert hall (seating 2,500), and two smaller experimental and theatrical stages. Parking may be provided for 2,000 cars.

The project should cost $300 million, to be divided equally between the private and public sectors. Governor Kean is expected to go to local businesses and corporations, as well as the New Jersey Legislature, to discuss how to raise the funds. Completion date of the project, which would help revitalize Newark's and New Jersey's image, is said to be sometime before 1990, the last year of Kean's second term.

The regional centers would be in Cherry Hill, Morristown, New Brunswick, and Trenton.