Brookhaven Multiplex Cinemas
440 S. Service Road,
Medford,
NY
11763
440 S. Service Road,
Medford,
NY
11763
6 people
favorited this theater
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Please update, theatre became 14 screens on June 24, 1988 and theatre closed May 1, 2003
Grand opening ad
Brookhaven Multiplex Cinema opening 27 Nov 1985, Wed Newsday (Suffolk Edition) (Melville, New York) Newspapers.com
Driving past today I noticed the boarded up pylon is still there. The site is barren except for that.
Thanks. I’m Montreal.
Please update, theatre open November 27, 1985 Grand Opening ad posted.
At rivest256, I had the ad but forgot to post it. Good resource for Nassau/Suffolk theatres is Newsday. You need a proquest subscription through the New York Public Library or any library on the island if you live their.
Opened November 27th, 1985
Brookhaven Multiplex Cinemas opening Fri, Nov 22, 1985 – 500 · Daily News (New York, New York) · Newspapers.com
The Sunshine Square shopping center was built about 1987, and opened as Sunshine Mall, and I remember it was a farm before that. I am familiar with the shopping center and there was never a theater in there.
When it opened the anchor store was a Finast Supermarket (then Edwards now Stop and Shop). The supermarket was originally where Savers and the Gym are now. Where Stop N Shop is now were just smaller typical stores, which they tore down completely in the middle to make the Stop N Shop. At the other end what is Ruby Tuesday was originally a Fuddruckers Restaurant, and then a few short lived small bars before becoming Ruby Tuesday about 10-15 years ago. The Rite Aide was always a drug store, Genovese before it. The rest of the shopping center were always typical smaller stores as they are now…..no theater.
The OTB was ruled out and will now be incorporated in the nearby Marriott on the North Service Road of the expressway.
Question. As I was driving a friend up Route 101, he mentioned that there had been a very short lived movie theater in what is now call the Sunshine Square Shopping Center, at the intersection with Station Road. ????????
Maybe they’ll use the pylon for the OTB operation. Interesting note, the former Jerry Lewis in Lake Ronkonkoma, aka Lakeside Cinema, now houses an OTB outlet. And, as far as pylons go, the one for Century’s Whitman is still up despite the fact that the theater has been gone for a long time. Pylon for the Patchogue Multiplex advertises the new housing development coming in; the one for the Skyway Drive In in Greenport the local Lutheran Church; the one for the Rocky Point Drive In is just derelict.
I saw a few days ago that the deal finally got approved and closed! Im happy I visited this site months ago and took pictures and a 14 minute video walking in the parking lot etc. Now to start going back here every now and then to see what progress takes place… It would be nice to see the parking lot and front by service road cleared away from all the weeds and trees that grew after the theater closed down to get a better feel of what the property looked like right after the theater closed down since there are no pictures of that anywhere…….. AND THE MOVIE SIGN STILL STANDS, to which I hope they actually take it down and preserve it and not destroy it!! Its part of history and has lasted all these years after theater closed so it would be a shame for it just to be destroyed after all this.
It has been announced that Suffolk Off-Track Betting Corp. will buy the 31 acre tract for $10.95 million on which they will construct a 1,000 electronic slot machine casino. Ground will be broken either in December 2014 or January 2015.
Very sad. It was part of my childhood always coming here. The last movie I saw here was Poolhall Junkies. I actually took a walk to the old site this past Monday via the back entrance which is blocked off by a huge dirt pile and took some pics. Looks awful! Tons of bushes and trees growing all over the parking lot. I didnt go all the way in towards the front where the theater building once stood but I plan on doing so sometime soon
One of the best jobs I had as a teen. The day before they opened the doors for the 1st time we all watched a midnight showing of Rocky IV
ALl what remains of this theater is it’s sign out front. Hard to believe it’s gone, it was such a “state of the art” place when I first saw Rainman there in 1987. Of course, that was before stadium seating became popular.
Any theatre on a major highway service road is a plus. It’s almost odd that this one was positioned at a relatively obscure location some twenty years ago and now that there has been major development eastward closed it down in favor of the new one in Holtsville a couple of exits back. When you look at the spotty location of theatres out here any viewing involves a drive of 20 miles (which is one of the reasons I rarely go, even to see pictures I want to see).
Someone should open a drive-in theater in that location. I would if I had the money. Someday, drive-in’s will return.
The theatre was leveled in 2007. The free standing marqee is all that remains. It had been boarded up to prevent vandalism.
The theatre opened on November 27th, 1985 with Rocky IV, Santa Claus: The Movie, To Live and Die In L.A., One Magic Christmas, King Solomon’s Mines, Bad Medicine, Starchaser: The Legend Of Orin in 3-D, Rainbow Brite and The Star Stealer (matinees only), Jagged Edge (evenings only), A Nightmare On Elm Street 2, Back To The Future and Once Bitten. I know that’s only 11 of the 12 auditoriums possibly filled but Rocky IV may have been interlocked.
I heard Walmart was building a store about 3 miles from that property on Route 112 (where the defunct Saturn building is). Why would they put 2 stores in such close proximity? Maybe I heard wrong…..
I miss this theater very badly. For the few months they operated after Island 16 was open, my wife and I always preferred Brookhaven. After it was closed, some of my friends and I wanted to break in to make a homemade horror film, but we chickened out. Now there is nothing on the property other than overgrown weeds and the old sign. Heartbreaking. I would love to see a friggin Drive-In built on the site. Imagine that?? Bring back the drive-ins already.
Any updates on what is going on the Brookhaven theater site? The last post about Walmart was from 2006?
Oh, and it’s all gone now. Target building across the highway. I haven’t seen this area of land in a while. I’ll take a peak next time I drive by. Also, Remember the King Kullen 5 minutes away? Still can’t believe that place is now gone too.
Oh, and it’s all gone now. Target building across the highway. I haven’t seen this area of land in a while. I’ll take a peak next time I drive by.
I remember seeing “Black Hawk Down” in this theater. And I remember chilling in the parking lot in my first car with the guys late at night.
I remember when Disney used to do “sneak previews” there some wknds, before the pics were officialy released, as double features w/current releases…got to see Father of the Bride and Homeward Bound that way. Other than those, my attendance there was fairly sporadic (as I was much closer to the UA Movies @ Coram and usually went there)…last 2 pics I saw there were Planet of the Apes in 01, and 8 Crazy Nights in Dec. 02, just 4 mos before it closed.
Rega,
What was it like inside the Multiplex after it was closed? Were they already gutting it? I actually had no idea it was even closing when it did or I would have made an effort to see one last show there and it would have been cool to be there for that last showing of “Anger Management.”
I was sad to see it torn down the other day when I passed by. I grew up in Wading River and probably went to 100+ movies at Brookhaven, so it brings back fond memories. I remember my 11th b-day party there in 1986, which means it must have been brand new, as well as a night senior year of high school when we all brought 40s in, and drank during “Alive.” Before I moved to Wading River in 1979, I lived in the neighorhood behind the Multiplex, so I can only imagine how many movies I would have gone to if it were a bike ride away.