RKO Keith's Theatre

Jessica- if you’re out there, do consider the Keith’s!

Wouldn’t it be something if the city took the property and handed it over to a group of preservationists (ahem, ahem) to figure out how to restore it? 0:–)

God bless ya, Jeffrey.

This is the only way I can see anything positive happening to this property: concerned citizens getting involved, short of this email I sent to a lady by the name of Jessica who is looking for a property to save in the Long Island area â€" if she is bogus, shame on us…
But if she is for real â€" well, no harm in my response:

Dear Jessica,
Please look into the RKO Keith, Flushing…
It has a wonderful following of concerned citizens who would like to retain this structure, individuals in and out of the area.
Its a venerable theatre in need of monetary support, and its in the right place…but it needs help before it ends up as a pile of bricks and dust.
If you are for real, then this is the deal â€"â€" bank on it, as its supporters will verify.
Check out Cinema Treasures, the RKO Keith, Flushing response board, for all the support you need to consider…for this theatre has touched many…the very same who would hate to see it destroyed.

Thanks for the hopeâ€"

As mentioned earlier in this forum, my interest in the RKO Keith Flushing is based on childhood movie experiences when a resident of Bayside and Flushing during the mid-1960s.
My family moved us in ‘68 to Bethlehem, Pa. where I went to college, graduated, and received my teaching degree.
In all the years I lived in the Lehigh Valley, I discovered the power an individual possesses by forming, or participating in organizations which preserve historic landmarks for future residents.
In those days, being an out-of-towner probably helped me to see the value in preserving landmarks, as “natives” apathetically sat by or considered these structures eye-sores worthy of destruction.
This was true in the 1950s through the '70s as landmarks in New York city were taken down for the sake of “progress,” or by simply being “out-dated” (Penn Station).
During the bi-centennial year, I believe there was a re-evaluation of what was worth preserving in our cities, towns and farms â€" and I think it woke people up.
As a snot-nosed college graduate who knew everything but really knew nothing about historical preservation, I got on the bandwagon and helped preserve the 1758 Sun Inn during the early '80s…
and more recently, helped stop development of seven acres of wooded mountaintop lots where a church group, blinded by zeal, had hoped to create a headquarters for their congregation.
As an American in full support of freedom of religion, I helped stop this crazy notion of bringing busloads of supporters numbering in the thousands, leveling a watershed property, covering it with macadam on a steep slope, drilling several wells and installing septic systems to deal with their waste. The real waste of course, was their potential to ruin an area zoned residential as well as the environment incapable of supporting such numbers.
By joining with neighborhood residents, we formed an organization to collectively stop that deal, attended meetings, used our creative skills from our varied professions, and successfully convinced the township of the insanity of this project. We won because we were unified â€" possessing a voice which had power â€" but only as a unit of many.
I still maintain that creating a non-profit organization, or reviving an existing local one in Flushing, Queens, to save this structure could wake up politicians of the will of their constituents. Solitary individuals are not as capable of bringing their message of value in preservation as unified groups â€" I experienced this first-hand.
Bethlehem was just awarded a license to the Sands Casinos, Inc., who will help kick in millions, along with the state, to preserve the brownfields at the Bethlehem Steel site.
This just didn’t happen by one or two concerned indiviudals writing petitions â€" it took town meetings and shouting loud enough to wake up those with vision, cash and clout, because this is what counts.
As a result, four blast furnaces will be saved, icons at a site which helped this country and its allies win two world wars.
Surely saving RKO Keith has as much value as a brownfieldâ€"
that’s evident in this, and all the other inspired responses on this website.

Friday looks good for me and davebazooka!
We’ll all be in touch :–)

I will post pics tonight, if time is there to do it! Ed, email me and we’ll see if we can get down there. Tom ,I didnt forget you bud, it’s just been nuts! But I’ll call you soon.

Donald Trump? Please! What landmarks has he preserved? My memory told me that Trump’s family had a hand in the demolition of Steeplechase in Coney Island; I was right. As found on the rcdb.com (rollercoaster database) website:

After Steeplechase Park closed the Tilyou family sold the land to Fred C. Trump (Donald Trump’s father). Trump had wanted to build high-rise apartments on the land, but was unable to gain the requisite planning permission. Trump then leased the land to Norman Kaufman in 1967 to use as a parking lot.

But wait — there’s more. Excerpted from “A History of The Coney Island Parachute Jump” by Seth Kaufman, at bayridge.com:

Steeplechase Park itself closed after the 1964 season, bought and razed by Fred C. Trump for housing that was never built. But the Parachute Jump survived, presumably saved by the ever increasing cost of demolition that had kept it at Coney since 1941. The Jump continued to operate until 1968, part of a group of small scale rides operated on the now nearly vacant lot.

From 1968 on, the Jump was essentially left to rust in the salt air. …Plans were prepared for its demolition. … the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce filed a proposal calling for landmark status and conversion of the tower to “A Beacon of Welcome, the Steeplechase Parachute Light.” … On July 12, 1977, the Jump was declared a city landmark. Unfortunately, the city Board of Estimate overturned the designation, concerned that preservation of structure was “a luxury we can not afford.” Threats of demolition were once again made, but a price tag of $250,000 and public outcry scuttled the idea.

… In 1988, the Parachute Jump was declared a city landmark for a second time, surely some sort of record. This time the designation stuck, but by then the structure had deteriorated even further, …

The nineties brought new threats of demolition. … Fred C.Trump, apparently intent on finishing the destruction he had started 25 years before, offered $400,000 if the Jump was torn down. But the city had no choice; the structure was a landmark and had to be preserved. Work began in early 1992. …And with its new coat of paint, fresh steel and landmark status, the Steeplechase Parachute Jump seems ready for another 25 years.

In short, the history of the Parachute Jump nearly parallels the history of the RKO Keith’s â€" and the Trump family hardly seems likely to be a champion of preservation! (Even if he can change the name to TRUMP THEATER!)

Sorry for going so far off the track, but Happy New Year to all.

I grew up in Flushing and the Keiths was one of 3 theaters my friends and I took the bus to(the others being Prospect and Parsons). A child’s ticket I recall was 50 cents and it was always a double feature. I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to get entry to the theater about 3 years ago on a chance opportunity. How sad it was to see the extent of decay, but man, the flood of memories it gave me. I’m thrilled to find this chat chain on this grand old place and to see others who appreciate not the nostalgia, but the artistry and grandour of the building.

Happy Holidays to all!

I am free Wednesday and Friday and would love to get into the RKO to take some totally radical pics.

:)

Wow. I’ve been offline for a few days and missed quite a lot! I’m so glad that you were able to get in and take some photos, Mike69… and happier still that you went back a second time with Tom. I’m looking forward to you posting images from your second expedition! Should you plan on going back for a third time sometime this week, I’d love to tag along. I have a new Nikon digital SLR that takes great photos in low lighting – I might even get my hands on a tripod for the occasion. I should be around all week, except for Wednesday. By the way, congrats on the newborn!

Warren… If you can’t share your enhanced versions of Mike’s photos due to a lack of space on your photobucket account, I have plenty of room on mine and would gladly host them – if you are interested. I already have an album dedicated to the Keith’s.

Happy Holidays to all on CT!

All good ideas, Ken. In a perfect world, a good number of us would co-own a Jersey Loew’s type of group and slowly restore the theater on the basis of donated construction work. LJ has accomplished this and has spread their limited funding very far. Never mind full restoration, functionality could be achieved with partial preservation and restoration to start out with. Financial quotes and figures are based on what construction companies cost. The fact of the matter is that materials are not always expensive, and volunteer work is FREE. Again, the warning of countless millions needed can serve as a catalyst to make us forget about saving this theater. First and foremost, the issue is purchasing it- worry about the rest later.

Apparently they booked “Running Scared” thinking it was the third part of a horror trilogy!