There's been much discussion about reviving old theaters in town lately, with the Ridgewood Theater getting landmark status and the Loew's in Chinatown getting refurbished into a community center. Now Brooklyn's Loew's Kings Theater is getting some attention after rotting away since 1977—the NY Times notes that its current state includes a "rusting, dirt-caked marquee," a cobweb-filled deteriorated interior, and plenty of vandal and pigeon feces. You know, just your typical movie theater here in New York!
Good news, though: the theater, which opened in 1929 at 1027 Flatbush Avenue near Beverly Road, is getting a makeover. According to 1010Wins, a Texas developer is planning a $70 million renovation. The city, who seized the building long ago, has appointed the Houston-based ACE Theatrical Group to restore and operate it. The president of that group explained their plans, saying, “We’ll be able to recreate what it looks like when it was first put into use. We’ll be able to very accurately recreate what is no longer there and restore what is there.”
In the past, the theater featured vaudeville acts, a pipe organ, and movie screenings, and current plans call for bringing live performances back to the stage. In fact, they hope to bring 250 concerts, theatrical performances and community events to the space annually, once renovations are done in 2014. The last action the theater saw was on August 30th, 1977, when it screened the feature film Islands in the Stream.
