By:KEITH GRANT
Four-screen theater OK'd; 7-plex scrapped
Plans for a four-screen movie theater in Long Beach are in production as developers officially canned ideas of a seven-plex, a project given a green light two years ago.
The current Park Avenue Twin will be gutted and converted into a 600-seat, four-screener under the plan, possibly opening as early as the Thanksgiving holiday season. The plan, which required several variances, was unanimously approved after a presentation at the May 24 meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
"This theater will be state of the art," Janet Insardi, Mineola-based attorney for the developers, told members of the zoning board. The project will be developed by Philips International, the company currently negotiating with city officials to develop a hotel/condominium complex on the beachfront Superblock property.
City officials had revealed the plans to the Herald a couple of weeks ago, an announcement that appeared to end two years of litigation and months of negotiations between the city, Philips and residents who took the seven-plex issue to court. Steven Marro, president of the Long Beach Residents Association which formed in response to the controversial seven-screen, 1,500-seat theater, was surprised by the news earlier this month that a scaled-back design had been agreed to. Philips officials, he said, had backed down on such an agreement several times in recent months.
Despite the new plan, officials said Philips will still own the variances previously granted for the 7-plex.
While increased parking and traffic had been the primary concerns to residents, it seems decreased profits in the movie-house business ultimately contributed to the developers' edited plans. Several theater chains, including United Artists, have struggled recently, with UA declaring bankruptcy.
Philips representatives, however, are confident they will have no difficulty landing a top-flight operator. Len Gold, an attorney for Philips, said the company would be looking for an independent operator who runs other locations on Long Island or the New York metro area.
"We have not made a final decision on who will operate the theater," Gold said. "We're talking to more than one [operator]."
Officials said they expected that the current operators, Henry and Anne Stampfel, would be among those considered. The Stampfels also operate the Oceanside Twin and Malverne Cinema 4, which some city officials have suggested could be a model for Long Beach.
"Our goal is to provide a state-of-the-art facility," Gold said. "We really want to do the right thing."
Although a rendering of a proposed new facility has not been done, architect John Schimenti of Lynbrook said the theater would remain one level, rising slightly to 24 feet, four feet below what's allowed. The theater will expand into the neighboring former home of Roy Rogers, where a new corner entrance would lead into a 1,200-square-foot lobby, 1,000 square feet larger than the current lobby.
According to Schimenti, the individual theaters would seat 180, 176, 150 and 94 people, respectively. While the three larger screens would be suitable for major new releases, the fourth screen, Schimenti speculated, could be used for independent and art-house productions.
The entire project, Schimenti said, would cost up to $400,000.
The zoning board granted developers a parking variance, without which they would be required to provide about 150 off-street parking spaces. Twenty-seven new spaces are to be provided in the empty lot directly behind the building, but Philips is relying on Park Avenue to contain enough vacant spots to accommodate the incoming crowds.
Robert Eschbacher, a traffic engineer hired by Philips, said he examined vacant spots on Park Avenue during two peak movie-going times, Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, two weekends ago. Counting from the Long Island Rail Road station to Lincoln Boulevard, he said he found 173 vacant spots on Friday night and between 169 and 233 on Saturday afternoon.
"Plus we're providing 27 new ones," Eschbacher said. "It's my opinion there will be adequate parking and will not be significant traffic flow problems. This project will not have an adverse impact on parking or traffic."
Eschbacher testified that the theater will have a positive impact on restaurants in the area. Zoning board member Leonard Remo asked whether movie-goers who stick around for dinner in the area would be taking spots away from others going to the theater at other times. Eschbacher did not seem to follow the line of reasoning, but no board member ultimately found reason not to approve the variances at the end of the presentation.
