Empty Passaic County jail used to film the movie 'Motor City' — complete with explosion

PATERSON — The Passaic County Jail is going out with a bang.

In its final month before demolition, the empty corrections facility in Paterson’s downtown area is being used as a location for filming a movie, including a special-effects explosion and trail of fire.

Those blasts are taking place in the jail’s inner courtyard, away from where people on Main and Grand streets would be able to see the flames.

The special effects are being monitored by a Paterson fire official to make sure things are done safely. A fire engine crew and ambulance first responders — all paid overtime with funds from the movie producers — are going to be on standby, said Paterson Fire Chief Alex Alicea. People who live in the area have been notified about the movie’s explosion, he said.

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The script of “Motor City” includes a character who is incarcerated and the film’s producers couldn’t pass up the opportunity to shoot scenes inside a real jail when they learned about the vacant county facility through the governor’s office, officials said.

'Motor City' filming in empty jail

After “Motor City” made its plans for the jail, word got around among cinematographers about the unique opportunity for filming at the empty jail, said Kelly Ruffel, Passaic County’s director of Cultural and Historic Affairs.

Others looking to film there started contacting county officials. But officials needed to move ahead with the demolition and had to decline the other filmmakers, Ruffel said.

Representatives of "Motor City" declined to discuss the movie and would not provide access to their closed set.

Government officials have been planning to knock down the jail for several years, especially as changes in New Jersey’s bail laws reduced the number of prisoners housed there. Passaic now sends its inmates to the Bergen County jail.

The demolition — which is supposed to start in mid-August and be done by the end of this year — will change the landscape of Paterson by wiping away a forbidding barbed-wire fortress at one of the city's main entryways, the Grand Street exit ramp off Route 19.

“You can see it from Route 80,” Passaic County Commissioner Orlando Cruz said of the barbed wire atop the building. “This will change how people are welcomed into the city.”

Jail will give way to new government building

In its place, officials are planning to construct a government building, one they say may include space for the Board of Social Services, the Superintendent of Elections, the Passaic County Probation Department, and a sheriff’s substation for processing inmates, which currently is being done at offices in Wayne.

Cruz, who also works as the executive director of the Greater Paterson Chamber of Commerce, said replacing the jail with a government office building will be a boost for the city’s downtown.

“It’s going to create additional foot traffic for the businesses in the immediate area,” Cruz said.

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh did not respond to multiple inquiries asking what he thinks would be the best use of the jail property.

The jail property sits within the boundaries of a Great Falls neighborhood revitalization zone where a Paterson nonprofit organization, the New Jersey Community Development Corporation, is trying to make improvements.

“I would eagerly welcome a county office building in place of the county jail,” said Bob Guarasci, the NJDCD’s executive director. “We’ll no longer have to look at a jail that’s been an eyesore in that neighborhood.”

Guarasci’s organization is working with county officials researching the possibility of putting affordable housing at the site currently used by the Board of Social Services, the former Paterson Central High School building at 80 Hamilton St., across from the Passaic County Courthouse.

John Bartlett, director of the Passaic County Board of Commissioners, said the building constructed as a high school was never a good fit for the social service offices.

“You have classrooms being used to serve clients,” Bartlett said.

The county commission director said replacing the jail with government offices will be more efficient.

“This is a rare opportunity to build something from the ground up,” Bartlett said.

County officials said they have yet to hire architects to design the new building. There are no cost estimates yet. First, officials said, they must make final decisions on exactly what services they plan to put there. The planning work may take a year, according to officials.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Empty Passaic County jail used to film the movie 'Motor City' — complete with explosion