Commack Multiplex Cinemas

All screens will be equipped with Odorama. Oh, wait, they already are.

Well, I think they’re beyond the most agree it will happen stage, because I passed by the multiplex yesterday and there is a large banner hanging on it that says “Coming Soon, Cinema Deluxe 16, All Stadium Seating.”

No evidence of construction starting, but as far as I know this is the first public advertising that the project is a go.

CaptRon, The news is there is no news.
The on again-off again project is still well….on again-off again.
No date has ben established for the start of the new construction.
Its' a bit complicated with many variables still yet to be put in to place. But most agree it will happen….eventually.

Yes Bway I would agree, however, circumstances I can not go into here will not allow it. The new building, which will be an improved Cinema Delux, will be state of the art.

I never liked working at this theatre. We had several complaints about an odor and the ripped carpeting and the kids that came out on Friday night (we use to call Friday night “fight night” and would place bets about when, where and who would fight). The odor has been a mystery, we tried everything from deodorizers, changing the air filters more frequently to keeping the AC on all night in certain theaters (worst ones) to keep air circulating. Nothing worked (temp at best). As for the remodel it has been put on hold for another year due to poor sales last year. It is scheduled to be a delux like the one in holtsville one day.

Very musty smell in here a lot of times.

I used to love going to this theater. I stopped going once National Amusements opened the new theater in Farmingdale during the mid 90s. The Farmingdale’s auditoriums were so much better with the cup holders and better seats. I remember Commack had one or two auditoriums similar to Farmingdale’s, they should have renovated more of their auditoriums to be like theirs.

I think i read build first take down 2nd

The architect for this theater, as well as Boston’s Pi Alley, and almost if not all of the Sack Cinemas, and Sonny and Eddy’s Cinemas, and many independently owned cinemas, was Burt W. Federman. His office was in Park Square and he designed or “twinned” literally thousands of cinemas in the New England area. By the 1980’s, he designed many of the Showcase cinemas located in New England and the central atlantic states. He passed away in 1987. He had also developed a soundproofing system for cinemas which had been first used in a mutiplex he had designed in the Bronx.

The projection room here, as with the Sunrise in Valley Stream, is extremely long and narrow. It is like being in a submarine. If at one end or the other, you cannot see the other end of the booth. It is that far away. Only one projectionist is on duty at a time. To get from one end to the other at both places, a projectionist has to use a two-wheel foot scooter to thread projectors, start shows, raise and lower volume, check focus, etc. It is insane…

If this theater is torn down, does anyone know what’s going to happen to the neon signs in the lobby? I’d be willing to plunk down some cash for that “Rick’s Cafe Americain” sign.

The operation of this theatre has suffered in the past 8 years or so due to poor management and a facility in which cleanliness was not a priority. If money had been spent on the auditoriums, just to clean them up instead of the two remodels of the lobby and concession stands, this place would still have good numbers today. When I was there, this theatre was grossing over $150,000 a week and over $200,000 a week in the summer weeks. The concession was also huge topping over $50,000 a week in the summer with a concession payroll at below the 10% of the concession gross. If we only got commission then as they do now, there would be no excuae to have a theatre in this condition. Today it is the concession area and not the “movies” and their surroundings that are i9mportant to theatre owners. “It’s a shame, you know” as one of National Amusements' district managers use to say.