Kings Theatre

I don’t think the area has to be “safe” before the Kings can be up and running. The area around BAM was very bad before it was fully restored (to have a movie theater in it, the BAM ROSE.) The restoration of BAM helped IMPROVE the area. So the theater’s restoration comes first, then the area itself may get better. I see Loews Kings as featuring r&b, rap and maybe even some alternative rock. Brooklyn is losing an alternative rock venue (McCarren park) so this would be a good replacement, though not outdoors as McCarren is.) There are a lot of hipsters on Cortelyou/Ditmas Park, who got priced out of the pricier parts of Brooklyn. It’s all a matter of marketing. I think the main thing keeping the Kings from coming back is the amount of money involved in the restoration and the fear that it’s too big a risk to undertake. Markowitz said nothing about the Kings at the free concert series he hosts in the summer. Then again, I only went to one show.

Hey Warren, I agree with your concern about the Paradise and the resemblence between the two, but instead of focusing on the one possible negative (The Paradise), why not focus instead on the palaces that are doing well: The Beacon, The St. George, The Loews 175th St. and the Loews Jersey.

I don’t know what’s going on at the Loews Paradise, but it could just be inept management rather than an inability to book events.

Recently, a poster inquired about how to contact the owner of the Paradise because she wanted to hold her wedding reception there and I’m not sure if she ever got through. That is an example of incompetent managment when someone who wants to give you business can’t get a hold of you. It doesn’t mean that the demand isn’t there.

A side note to Scott. In addition to all of the concert/event venues that New York offers there are also about 37 Broadway theaters and there is demand to keep them all up and running thanks not only to local demand but to the booming tourist industry who have kept New York’s economy running relatively well while the rest of the country struggles.

Scott;
You are correct. These theaters are being used for many performance purposes like concerts. I can name two offhand, the Patchogue Center for the Performing Arts in Patchogue, New York, and the Majestic Theater in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This is a feasible idea.

Wait a minute here, but there are those of us former Brooklynites who live such places as Long Island. I say that if we are willing to take a trip into Junior’s for the Cheesecake and Nathan’s for the hot dogs we will be willing to take a trip to the Kings. It will be our theater forever, no matter where we go.

Where was it reported that the city would spend at least $35 million on restoring Loew’s Kings? I have been actively involved in Save The Kings since 1987 and had not heard any such figure.

For all nostalgia buffs: In the basement of Loew’s Kings there was a rarely or never used screening room. Everything in the room is covered with a fine plaster dust. However one wall sports a few — holes where the projectors were once situated.

On my last trip to the theater, I noticed that the murals on both sides of the balcony were now —– missing. Perhaps even more interesting, they weren’t torn down by the homeless, but removed by a professional who took care to peel them off the wall gradually leaving a white plaster rectangle in their absence. How could this happen? (Great Security!)

I believe to make the Kings profitable, it must become a Center for the Performing Arts and should be enclosed in a big box shopping mall. In that way the lobby of the theater can provide access to more than the theater. It could also provide access to an adjoining multiplex, a comedy or jazz club in the former basketball court, etc.

A previous post talked about the Victorian Furniture that could be restored. BUT whatever happened to that furniture? After 30 years, where could it be? Don’t worry it’s been preserved and protected by the former manager of Loew’s Kings. Along with all kinds of memorabilia that could be the backbone of a Loew’s Kings Museum. Imagine a visual history of the vaudeville days and the movies of the 60s and 70’s! It’s all intact and waiting!

Bruce1

Wow. I dont know whether to feel better or worse given the above article. I simply dont know why this is so hard to get off the ground. I also didnt know the city was committed to kick in $35K more than I expected. Thats half of the projected cost (but we all know how stuff always runs over budget) and I really dont think corners should be cut with the restoration. So an additional $35k from private investors isnt too much to ask in my book and again I think alot of money can be raised by people like us who would love to kick in some to restore it. It just needs that start and momentum. Was downtown yesterday and saw some demolition going on. I believe its where the Albee theater was. Shame, another one bites the dust. Maybe people are more sympathetic to churches? Who knows.

I agree I think if you build it people will come and it is spectacular. And yes I saw that they even razed the bldg’s next to the theater which can be used for parking besides the lot mentioned behind the theater. I wish I couldve seen inside of it. And again, I think with a combination of public funds, private developer, and donations it can happen. I don’t think Flatbush Avenue is a slum. And I do remember when you couldnt pay anyone to live in Park Slope and now its untouchable for most people to live there. So now is the time to start on the ground floor. I did see alot of movement from Coney Island Avenue towards Flatbush Avenue. Alot of diversity and alot of renovations going on and the prices are escalating. I thing apartments were the ruination of alot of areas. When people own something, they have more inclination to take care of it. Any ETA on how long a restoration would take to complete? Any word on if anyone expressed an interest after the spring tour? When I said local I mean not only ethnic and cultural I mean also continuing graduations as in the past and also perhaps dance school productions and senior events with specials and packages to attract groups. The St. George in SI does that and I tell you people are flocking there and it gets alot of press in the SI paper because a local woman restored it. It is also attracting named headliners.

When people say that the Kings needs to promote “local” events as part of their product mix, they don’t mean just Flatbush! It means a large part of BROOKLYN!

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center is a perfect example of this. They present programs that appeal to African Americans, Latins and Portuguese in addition to more traditional fare and it is one of the busiest PA centers in the country. Newark has a huge crime problem (Brooklyn does not, regardless of your perception) and yet their Performaing Arts Center does quite well.

No, Flatbush is not the same as it was in the 50’s. But this is not a slum by any stretch of the imagination. I’m a lifelong New Yorker and I was very pleasantly surprised by the area. I’m a firm believer in “If you build it, they will come!” Look at Dumbo, Downtown Brooklyn, Ft. Greene, Park Slope, etc…. These areas were god awful, but they were turned around. New Yorkers are also much more likely to visit the boroughs now than they used too. They’re not afraid to ride the subways at night. That also bodes well for The Kings.

Finally, there is one more very important statistic. Brooklyn has 2.6MM people! That would be the 4th largest city in the America. In all of Brooklyn, the only significant performance space is The Brooklyn Academy of Music (which is spectacular) and perhaps we can add the PA center at Brooklyn College. That is remarkably little in a “city” the size of Brooklyn. A showplace like The Kings can easily book many shows and, yes, I do believe people would come not just from Brooklyn, but from Manhattan as well.

As far as parking goes, there is parking right behind the theater and more could be built on the lot, if deemed necessary.

Remember that the other Loew’s Wonder Theatres: The Jersey, The Paradise, The Valencia and The 175th Street all in areas that were considered dicey at best and all have been restored by either private enterprise, local volunteers or churches. The Kings (when compared to the othe Wonder Theatres is probably in the nicest neighborhood of all. The only thing truly holding The Kings back is the actual cost of the renovations. Once restored, I have no doubt that it will carry itself quite well.

Great video on the Kings
View link

Has Marty Markowitz said anything about the Loew’s lately? He really ran with this project but has been very quiet about it lately. Any Brooklyn political insiders here with real info on the project?

Scott, I don’t think turning a profit is the issue. There are many ways to make this theater viable. It is turning a profit after based on an almost $70 million in investment. Even if you factor that the government is kicking in $35 million, it is still an amazing obstacle. I think a solution might be to take the $35 million and start renovations. Not the grand plans that have been suggested, but fixing what’s already there. The plaster work that is missing being replaced by a fiber glass concoction, renovate the existing stage and rigging, seating etc. These are big projects in and of themselves but I think you could attract a bigger base of possible partners with a partially completed theater than what is there now.

Welcome Staten Island Ellie! It’s great to see your enthusiasm for the Kings. My Junior High School graduation was at The Valencia and I never got to see a movie in The Kings, but I am a big fan of the Wonder Theaters and want to see them all restored and in public use. Four have been saved and one, The Jersey, actually shows movies. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing The Day The Earth Stood Still there and had a great time.

In my opinion, The Kings is arguably, the most beautiful of the Wonder theaters. Even in its decayed state it it truly an incredible site to behold. I’ve had the opportunity to tour the abandoned theater on 2 ocassions as part of the EDC’s RFP process
and I’ve posted my detail obeservations on those visits in prior posts above.

I agree that this theater has great promise as a performing arts center; especially given the success of The St. George on Staten Island. I live in Manhattan, but I took the ferry over with some friends to see Joy Behar and was amazed at how big that theater was and what a wonderful job they are doing. (Now if they could only replace that monstrous marquee with a proper one befitting a theater of this stature!)

When I visited the Kings, I was actually impressed with how nice Flatbush Avenue was. My image (having never been to that area of Brooklyn in my life and I’m a life long New Yorker) was that it was a border line slum and it most defintitely was not. The retail strip was lively and while it didn’t have a lot of high end retailers there were virtually no empty storefronts. The only abandoned building was, of course, The Kings. The surrounding areas wer filled with well kept single family homes and small apartment buildings and I felt quite secure walking in the area and would absolutely visit The Kings in the future if it had programming that appealed to me.

Another case in point is the New Jersey Performing Arts Center which has had tremndous success even though it was placed in downtown Newark (and not that close to Penn Station at that)! Most of their programming has been geared to the local population and they have done very well.

There is room in Brooklyn for both The Brooklyn Academy of Music and a restored Loews Kings as performing arts Centers. Brooklyn has 2.6MM people for gosh sakes! This is really a no brainer. In this case, it truly is a situation of “If you build it, they will come!”

I’m hopeful that they will build it……and we will come!

Hi. I came across your site and am thrilled that there’s some dialogue at least about the Loew’s Kings. I graduated HS there and was probably among the last schools to do so. It is a magnificent theatre and, frankly, I thought it was made into something else by now. Well, luckily not, but I am shocked that it is sitting there rotting. After seeing the recent RFP tour pix inside-I am glad that it is not in worse condition. I am happy that the roof is fixed and hope that the building is secured against future vandalism and hopefully inside jobs as well. Water damage is such a nightmare but the place looks better than I thought and the damage seems to be concentrated as I could decipher from the pictures. I think it is definitely salvageable. It would be a travesty if it was left this way or demolished.

Having said that, the only concern I have is that if the neighborhood is not safe, then all that work would be totally undone fast. I grew up in Flatbush in the late 50’s-mid 80’s and in the late 50’s Flatbush Avenue was simply beautiful. Such upscale mom and pop type stores — a grand boulevard that you could stroll safely. I watched it decline in the 70’s to nothing but cheap junk stores and drugs I certainly wouldn’t STROLL there any longer. With the demise of Macy’s and Woolworths, etc. and all the other lovely theatres and Garfield’s cafeteria and Jahn’s on Church Ave. there was simply nothing left.

I live in SI now but would certainly come back to the Kings if it was restored and would also donate to the rehab cause.

I’m sure I’m not going to say anything new here but as I see it, the theatre is not getting enough publicity. I think an all out appeal from every angle needs to be done. From local officials to TV documentaries, local cable stations, large newspapers, etc. I also believe that Ms. Streisand needs to be approached again. However, if she does not respond, perhaps someone on the level of Bill Gates who is always looking for causes and currently is overseeing teaching children in schools how to play bridge so he may be receptive to arts related projects. The word needs to get out beyond where it has been. I also think people who grew up in the neighborhood and have fond memories would definitely donate to a fund raiser and contractors may be persuaded to work at favorable rates in order to have their name linked with the project.

As for its income generating capacity on an ongoing basis, there are tons of events that can be held there as long as SAFETY and parking can be guaranteed. A woman in SI that runs a dance school restored the St. George Theatre and the events are great people attend and love it. It is a total success. In addition to movies, schools can resume commencements. There can be recitals, all performing arts, religious services, comedy shows and awards shows. Look at Radio City with Oscars. The St. George has all sorts of specials such as senior’s groups and Tony Bennett appeared.

Local merchants should pony up $ as well because if the theatre