South Bay Cinemas
495 Montauk Highway,
West Babylon,
NY
11704
495 Montauk Highway,
West Babylon,
NY
11704
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Leon A. Miller
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: South Bay Trio, South Bay Quad
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Apr 5, 2006 — Long Island Theater To Bring Back 70mm
The South Bay is a free-standing building within the shopping center it is located in. It was opened by Imperial Theatres on June 28, 1967 with John Wayne in “El Dorado”. On May 21, 1975 it became the South Bay Trio. On November 30, 1990 it became a quad. It expanded to 5-screens on November 15, 1991. It was closed in November 2016 for renovation. A reopening was planned for June 16, 2023, but the building didn’t pass safety checks and a reopening was deferred until fall of 2023.
It reopened on July 26, 2024 with all luxury recliner seating, an all-new interior, food items plus beer & wine and an all-new party rental program.
Contributed by
Bway Chris
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 164 comments)
from Newsday June 30 A West Babylon movie theater that was slated to reopen in time for the summer season may not start screenings until fall — or possibly ever — after town inspectors found numerous safety violations.
South Bay Cinemas owner Jay Levinson spent $1.3 million on a renovation to the property, which has been closed since 2016, and had planned to open by mid-June, Newsday previously reported.
But the theater didn’t pass an inspection by Town of Babylon building, engineering and fire officials in early June, according to Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Anthony Cardali.
“If you went in there and saw the whole thing as a totality, you would say this isn’t even close to being finished,” he said.
Levinson, 69, who also owns the Bellmore Playhouse, said he has hired an attorney to question some of the town’s findings.
“They want me to do all these things that would cost me money that could cause this theater not opening ever,” he added.
The fire marshal’s office found 22 items that need to be addressed, ranging from removing construction debris to labeling exit doors to correcting “severe damage” to flame retardant curtains. The building department issued a list of 14 necessary fixes while engineering officials found six problems.
Cardali said because the building has an occupancy load of more than 500 people, fire safety is the overarching concern for the town.
“We take fire safety in public assembly extremely seriously,” Cardali said. “The life hazard here is tremendous based on the occupancy load.”
Cardali said problems include “major electrical violations,“ and the partial installation of fire stops — which prevent smoke and heat from moving from one area to another.
In addition, the electrical system in the projection area is in “extremely poor condition" with signs of water intrusion or rust from age, according to the fire official. The inspection also revealed wires hanging out of electrical connections and boxes throughout the theater, Cardali said.
Levinson said he has run out of money and needs a loan for the repairs, but hopes to resolve everything by September or October.
“It’s caused me a lot of agita,” he said. “To me, it feels like they’d rather have an empty building there.”
Babylon Village resident Gary Weiner, 56, said he is “tremendously disappointed” the theater won’t open this summer because he had looked forward to seeing movies there with his teenage daughter.
“But things like electrical safety, that’s not a negotiable thing,” he said.
Apparently this is still not a dead issue. The landscaping in front of the theatre has been refreshed for Spring. Handicapped parking spaces have been outlined by the entrance with appropriate signage attached to the building.
Wonder when the lease is up. May happen before the theatre finally reopens.
At the rate this is going, the theatre will reopen one month before the lease ends.
Standard sized doors are now labeled as emergency exits. There is also a green light above each. The one for Theatre One faces the parking lot and is at the eastern corner of the building. Three more doors are on the eastern wall of the theatre about 12 feet from the parking lot and are almost adjacent to each other. ??? I presume the doors on the building facing Montauk Highway, which are not labelled, will service all five auditoriums.
The three doors on the eastern wall, from the parking lot, are 2,5,4.
It looks like the theater reopening today. Robboehm could you verify. Found showtimes on there facebook page. photo in photos section
ridethetrain - saw the same information as you. Phone isn’t working for additional confirmation. I don’t actually live in the area, and will not be passing through for a couple of weeks, so I can’t physically confirm at this time. Never thought it would happen. Closed since 2016. Wonder if people will even go at this point with so many changes in viewing habits due to the closing of so many theatres.
Saw someone I follow on Twitter has posted that the theater is for sure open with pictures. It can be officially confirmed as reopened if it wasn’t already.
It definitely opened, first day of operation, please not reopened on July 26, 2024
https://greaterlongisland.com/showtime-south-bay-cinemas-reopens-in-west-babylon/