Posted Apr 11, 2013, 2:41 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,900
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NYguy
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/ny...and.html?_r=1&
Next on the List for Coney Island: A New Theater
By JOSEPH BERGER
April 10, 2013
Quote:
A deal has been reached to give the revived Coney Island amusement area a new 5,000-seat music hall and theater, partly on the vacant site of a well-known terra cotta landmark, Brooklyn officials said on Wednesday.
The borough’s president, Marty Markowitz, has long struggled to build a permanent amphitheater to house a summer concert series that he has sponsored since he became a state senator 35 years ago. The concerts — which have featured lineups including Aretha Franklin, the B-52’s and the Beach Boys — have been held at three different outdoor sites over the years, and sometimes rained out. Mr. Markowitz’s last proposal, for a $64 million theater with a retractable roof in Asser Levy Park, closer to Brighton Beach, ran into strong opposition from two synagogues and other roadblocks.
But on Thursday, in his final State of the Borough address, Mr. Markowitz will announce that borough and city officials and a private developer, iStar Financial, have agreed to build a year-round theater, top officials in the borough president’s office said.
If built, the theater would occupy part of a building on the Boardwalk that once housed a branch of the Childs Restaurant chain and is protected by city landmark designation. The theater would also occupy an adjoining lot that has been used as an unauthorized community garden. The concerts would be run by a nonprofit operator. The theater could be used for year-round events, including graduations. There are also discussions about designing the theater so that hundreds of additional people can watch from an adjacent lawn when the weather is warm and dry.
The developer is planning to revive the 90-year-old Childs building as a restaurant, retaining the palatial facade, which is famed for its terra cotta seashell ornamentation, wide-mouthed smiling fish and Neptunes. Part of the building’s western wall would be breached to create the backstage area for the theater.
The Brooklyn officials said it could be at least two years before the theater opens.
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