Planned WTC arts complex gets $75M from Ronald Pearlman

NEW YORK (AP) - A planned performing arts center for the World Trade Center site has received a $75 million donation from billionaire businessman Ronald Perelman.

Officials said Thursday the donation will fund the construction, endowment and operations of the long-stalled project, which will be named for Perelman.

The Perelman center will be designed by the Brooklyn-based architecture firm REX and is slated to open in early 2020.

The project has undergone numerous changes and delays since it was first included as part of the site's 2003 master plan.

Perelman says he always believed arts and culture needed to be part of the rejuvenated district.

The center will include three theaters that can be reconfigured for premier works of dance, opera, music and theater.