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In Search of a Theater for prayer
posted by
MariaPet
on
October 19, 2006 at 7:30 am
We are a large congregation looking for a theater to buy as soon as possible. We have bought and lovingly restored several already. Specifically seeking on Long Island/Nassau county(either shore). Minimum 2500 seats. The bigger the better. Serious sellers only.
Please Contact Maria at:
Thanks and God Bless You!
Comments (1)
Hello,
I live in the Long Island area and I can pretty much say that the animal you are looking for is long extinct here. While at one time there were theatres that large, many have not been divided into multiplexes, have been torn down, or absorbed into retail outlets. The last large theatre that was ‘saved’ here on Long Island was the Patchogue Theatre. At around 1600 seats, this is considered a pretty large theatre for Long Island. Now this is not to say that you are without hope for your congregation, it is just that you are not going to find a dedicated theatre of this size. First question, do you have to buy the place? If not, then I am sure many college auditoriums would be fine. Perhaps you can enter into lease on a large building that could suit your needs. Which brings me to question #2. Do you really need a sloped floor? You could simply set up in an old warehouse and use risers for the seats to improve the view, install a stage and acoustically treat the place. Going this route, you could always easily remove the materials and transport them to a new venue. If you are dead set on purchasing a place I can tell you that on Long Island, you are not going to find something of that size cheap. Because you are a church and more then likely non-profit, you probably will be exempt from property tax so that is a good thing. But either you are going to spend in the millions to find a place that large, or you can find a cheap place that you have to stick plenty of money in to get it fixed up. Either way, you will be looking at alot of money.
Just for the record, I will say there is a closed multi-plex theatre in Coram, right by Rt 112 and RT 25. It is a good corner location. But the building is loaded with mildew and would require much clean up work. Further it is divided into small theatres and I seriously doubt it would be near the occupancy you are looking at (but it is probably close).
Other than that I don’t not know what else would be suitable. You would have much greater options if you rent or lease.
Hope that helps!