The May 18, 2017 Newsday reports that Billy Joel has contributed $500,000 to the rebuilding project which entitles him to naming rights of the theater’s popcorn stand.
This pushes fund raising efforts to $2.25 million. The Sag Harbor Partnership signed an agreement on April 6 to buy the property from the owner at an asking price of 8 Million but they must have 75% of this pledged by July 1st. (Originally the quoted asking price before the fire was $18 million.)They also hope to raise an additional $5 million to rebuild the iconic facade, upgrade the sound and projection in the main theater and add two smaller screening rooms.
Of the existing Long Island theaters there are very few from the early days and these have been chopped up. Now they build multiplexes with a dozen or more auditoriums but many seat fewer than 50 people. Except for the big, splashy movies you should just wait and see it on your home theater screen for a third of the price you’d pay.
paul, I’m familiar with the Cinerama concept but I doubt whether they would have retrofitted the Babylon for Cinerama. After the roadshow presentation a regular print was released in theaters. I actually captured the image of an ad for the popular release from Google. If I had the techie smarts I could have provided a link here. This is probably what you saw. It’s also been shown on TCM and is available on DVD.
paul, the theater was built in 1922 so the 1950’s style obviously came at a later date, probably after the fire they had. They also, obviously, changed the facade and the marquee adding the vertical. See the pictures section for the way the exterior looked early on after it became the Babylon, having started life as the Capitol, a sister theater to the Capitol in Riverhead which subsequently became the Riverhead.
Seeing a movie in a crowded multiplex is as enjoyable as going on a cruise one one of those new eleven story vessels that have more than 4,000 passengers.
According to the March 16, 1970 Box Office Magazine the 300 seat Main Street was created in conjunction with the ½ million dollar “curb to curb” renovation of the RKO Proctor’s. The decor was oriental red and gold. The preview of the theater occurred on Wednesday, the 11th with a showing of Tell Them Willie Boy is Here.
I find it really odd that a number of entries mentioning the Main Street Cinemas and photos are on this RKO sit but no one ever created one for the Main Street itself. I will do so now.
The South Bay Facebook page shows the way the theater will look whenever they finish the reno. The reality is that as of two weeks ago it looked like an abandoned building that should be demolished.
The Starr, Willoughby and Park (aka Park Palace) were all on Knickerbocker in the DeKalb vicinity. Any clue what it’s use was before demolition to check back on CT?
That and the LIRR into Grand Central and the completion of the Second Avenue Subway.
Coate perhaps you could access the Movie Timetable in Newsday during that time period to make the determination.
He didn’t. “And” was in lower case.
The May 18, 2017 Newsday reports that Billy Joel has contributed $500,000 to the rebuilding project which entitles him to naming rights of the theater’s popcorn stand.
This pushes fund raising efforts to $2.25 million. The Sag Harbor Partnership signed an agreement on April 6 to buy the property from the owner at an asking price of 8 Million but they must have 75% of this pledged by July 1st. (Originally the quoted asking price before the fire was $18 million.)They also hope to raise an additional $5 million to rebuild the iconic facade, upgrade the sound and projection in the main theater and add two smaller screening rooms.
Prudential also had a $1.00 price policy at the Northport.
Of the existing Long Island theaters there are very few from the early days and these have been chopped up. Now they build multiplexes with a dozen or more auditoriums but many seat fewer than 50 people. Except for the big, splashy movies you should just wait and see it on your home theater screen for a third of the price you’d pay.
paul, I’m familiar with the Cinerama concept but I doubt whether they would have retrofitted the Babylon for Cinerama. After the roadshow presentation a regular print was released in theaters. I actually captured the image of an ad for the popular release from Google. If I had the techie smarts I could have provided a link here. This is probably what you saw. It’s also been shown on TCM and is available on DVD.
Never did Cinerama.
paul, the theater was built in 1922 so the 1950’s style obviously came at a later date, probably after the fire they had. They also, obviously, changed the facade and the marquee adding the vertical. See the pictures section for the way the exterior looked early on after it became the Babylon, having started life as the Capitol, a sister theater to the Capitol in Riverhead which subsequently became the Riverhead.
Seeing a movie in a crowded multiplex is as enjoyable as going on a cruise one one of those new eleven story vessels that have more than 4,000 passengers.
The long goodbye.
Several years later they only manage a maximum of three bookings in the main space per month.
According to the March 16, 1970 Box Office Magazine the 300 seat Main Street was created in conjunction with the ½ million dollar “curb to curb” renovation of the RKO Proctor’s. The decor was oriental red and gold. The preview of the theater occurred on Wednesday, the 11th with a showing of Tell Them Willie Boy is Here.
Uploaded three pictures from the RKO Quad site originally posted in 2011 by Movieswithdad.
Uploaded a companion photo to the original proposal which would have incorporated the Loew’s marquee.
Uploaded a photo of the entrance.
I find it really odd that a number of entries mentioning the Main Street Cinemas and photos are on this RKO sit but no one ever created one for the Main Street itself. I will do so now.
Uploaded photo bearing RKO and Proctor names.
Uploaded a picture from the day.
I had previously suggested the Willoughby, Starr and Park.
The South Bay Facebook page shows the way the theater will look whenever they finish the reno. The reality is that as of two weeks ago it looked like an abandoned building that should be demolished.
Announcement was originally made in October 2016.
I’m with you, Joe. We’ll see if Bway weighs in on this.
The Starr, Willoughby and Park (aka Park Palace) were all on Knickerbocker in the DeKalb vicinity. Any clue what it’s use was before demolition to check back on CT?
Bway-None of the theaters on Cinema Treasures in Ridgewood have a DeKalb or Knickerbocker address. If it’s on CT it’s probably Brooklyn.
I tried to find the Facebook entry you refer to but was unsuccessful. How, exactly, did you access it?