The Jazz & Heritage Foundation renovated a 19th-century building on the edge of the historic Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans into a center dedicated to perpetuating and protecting the indigenous arts of the surrounding community and leveraging the neighborhood's historic status to generate economic growth. The Jazz & Heritage Center was opened to the public in December 2014, and is now the permanent home of the Foundation's Don Jamison Heritage School of Music, among other cultural and economic development programs. After nearly two years of renovations, the building features seven classrooms (including dedicated labs for piano and drums) and a 200-seat performance hall. All rooms are wired to a central control room for audio and video recording. The building also has interactive video projection for distance learning and special presentations. The Jazz & Heritage Center is named in honor of George Wein and his late wife Joyce, the pioneering festival producers who helped to launch the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (which is owned by the Jazz & Heritage Foundation) in 1970.