The Space at Westbury

Richard, there’ll be another inspection on September 27th, I believe. From the recent newspaper articles that I have read, I don’t think that it’s in that great condition (in fact, the town took over the theater because it was in such bad condition—particularly the roof—and the owner claimed that she would make renovations “soon”). I’d love to see it revitalized and always felt that its potential was being wasted.

By the way, I’ve read that the former owner of the theater used to solicite donations to “renovate” the theater. What did she do wtih that money?

In its final years, the Westbury Theater subsisted mostly on extended runs of Paramount releases.

I came I think twice to see movies here—once in the 80’s to take my sister to see (I think) “The Care Bears Movie” and in 1997 to see “Casablanca.” When I went to see “Casablanca”, it felt like I was watching a movie in my basement: the lobby had tattered carpeting and cheap paneling on the walls; the ceiling consisted of tiles and the theater proper smelled dank and damp. And the people who ran it were pretty nasty. It’s really sad, because, as noted, if someone had vision and money, this could be a really great theater.

Perhaps if it became some sort of community theater playhouse (not professional productions, like the Westbury Music Fair gets), maybe it could survive.

In addition to my comments posted yesterday, the village still wants a theatre here but if an offer is made to alter or demolish the property, it will probably happen after the auction on September 30 at a village board meeting. I’ll keep you posted.

I did an inspection of the premises today after reading the above post. The building “in bankruptcy” sits on Post Avenue awaiting its'
fate. I arrived at 12:25 and signed the waiver that all must do, to view the entire premises. The theatres closing date was about 5 years ago (not my estimate) and has seen better days. I will not go into the details of the inspection but the twin theatre (down the middle) was sad to see. The last time I was here was with “longislandmovies” to see “Trip To Bountiful” with Geraldine Page after she won the Oscar. The movie played there forever and then a day. This was true for most of the bookings. The owners were astute to “their rigid policies” (if you unwrapped a candy that was snuck in, you were ejected". This theatre with it’s tremendous stagehouse would suit plays needind the space. Due to “deferred maintenance” the building’s interior has suffered but the four walls and original structural supports are sound. The roof had it been maintained would have greatly improved its chances for survival as a L.I. Performing Arts Center. In its present condition though, it’s going to take “a person with a vision and obviously "money”. There are many vestiges of the old theatre in view but its' twinning saw the lobby “paneled and ceiling dropped” One third of the lobby entrance ceiling exists under the panels. The rest of the property in front of the theatre consists of 5 nice apartment containing 4 to 5 rooms each (now offices) and three storefronts that can be easily turned into 5 since two are quite large. The marquee was being changed for the proceedings which Warren has listed above. The owners were present and I remembered them from the movie days. I feel bad that they were not able to endure but they must know that they are responsible for the current condition of the property. To be honest, a performing arts center seems unlikely since the Westbury Music Fair handles the crowds and is established as a show and music venue and with the UA Westbury Stadium Theatres and Loew’s Raceway and Roosevelt Field Theatres, movies don’t make much sense either unless the building through renovation was quadded for “art and foriegn films” which seem never to get proper runs and then only at the Malverne and Huntington Community Cenetr. I hope that someone comes forward within the next two weeks with a vision for the ailing building. I’d hate to see it go.

You are thinking of the Salisbury which was on Old Country Road. It may have been a Centurys house at one time but by the seventies was a XXX house. It closed in 1993 and is a National Wholesale Liquidators.

I drove by today and it still is there with the same info on the marquee.