http://www.observer.com/2010/commerc...shows?page=all
Freak On! Texan Takes Coney Space to Compete With Other Sideshows
By Emily Geminder
February 9, 2010
Coney Island's oldest building will soon play a role in its oldest rivalry: the vying for the biggest, baddest freak show. Texan sideshow owner John Strong is making a bid for the title, signing a new lease at the Grashorn Building on Surf Avenue, according to the New York Post. His competition includes Dick Zigun's Coney Island USA Circus Sideshow, and, if a deal with the city is finalized, an amusement park run by Zamperla, called Luna Park.
Built in the 1880s, the Surf Avenue building was home to Grashorn's Hardware, which outfitted much of early Coney Island's burgeoning amusement industry. The Municipal Art Society has made a push for the city to recognize the building as a landmark, so far to no avail.
The building is owned by developer Joe Sitt, who bought up much of Coney Island in recent years for a proposed amusement park called Dreamland. When Mr. Strong first came to town last summer, he leased part of the former Astroland site, which Mr. Sitt has since sold to the city.
The original Luna Park and Dreamland were among Coney Island's first competing amusement parks. At Luna Park, a herd of elephants roamed the land, including one who was electrocuted by Thomas Edison. The proprietors of Dreamland, meanwhile, recruited 300 little people to live in a small-scale village called Lilliputia and, to gain a wider audience, encouraged the community to engage in sexually promiscuous behavior.
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http://www.nypost.com/p/city_conside...VAQFrug2EUIoFI
City considering landmark designation for Coney Island Theatre
February 9, 2010
By RICH CALDER
It opened in 1924 with the intention of turning Coney Island into a year-round tourist destination.
And now
city officials are considering giving "landmark" designation to the long-shuttered Coney Island Theatre building, so it could be protected and eventually become a key part of Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to finally revive the fabled – but rundown — summer seaside district into a year-round attraction.
"If we’re going to be serious about getting people to Coney Island year-round, we need a live entertainment venue, and this 2,500-seat theater not only showed movies in its heyday, but offered Broadway-style live shows," said Dick Zigun, of Coney Island USA, which submitted the proposal. "We're excited."
However, Kansas Fried Chicken king Horace Bullard and business partner Peter Sheffer, who co-own the Surf Avenue building, said they oppose landmark status because it would "restrict" redevelopment in the amusement district.
"The icons of old Coney Island should be used as an incorporation of a new Coney Island without placement, size, and design restrictions," they said in an e-mail. "We do not think that the building without modification enhances the long-term viability of the amusement district. Landmarking the building will stymie the future growth of a renowned amusement area that has always been about the latest, greatest and newest."
The Landmarks Preservation Commission said it will host a public hearing on the matter in the coming months.
The 1920 construction of the Stillwell Avenue subway station and construction of the boardwalk, which made the beachfront publicly accessible for the first time, paved the way for a revamped Coney Island and the building, which is Coney Island’s tallest and a modest interpretation of an Italian Renaissance palazzo.
The site is unusual for its combination of a theater with a full-size office building, something seen more in Manhattan’s theater district than the outer boroughs.
According to a report released by the city it "was constructed in 1924-25 to the designs of experienced theater architects Reilly & Hall, with associate architect Samuel L. Malkind, all of whom were protégés of the famous theater architect Thomas W. Lamb.
"The builder was the Chanin Construction Company, specialists in theater construction. Opened on June 27, 1925 with screenings of the silent film ‘The Sporting Venus’ and live performances by the famous Siamese twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, the seven-story neo-Renaissance Revival style structure housed a 2,500-seat auditorium theater for vaudeville and motion pictures, as well as six stories of office space.
"Shortly after its opening, the theater came under the operation of Marcus Loew, founder of one of the nation’s premier movie theater chains. According to one source, Al Jolson performed at Loew’s Coney Island Theatre on August 11, 1949."
Renamed "Shore Theater" in 1964, it fell on hard times in its final years as an adult movie house and bingo parlor before closing for good in 1973.