Cameo Theater
63 Main Street,
Brewster,
NY
10509
63 Main Street,
Brewster,
NY
10509
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Outside of Brewster theater to receive face-lift
By MARCELA ROJAS
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 18, 2006)
BREWSTER â€" The restoration of the Cameo Theater, a darkened Main Street movie house, was meant to be a beacon in the village’s revitalization efforts.
But for now, only the cinema’s exterior and an adjacent playhouse will be renovated with state grant money awarded more than a year ago, officials said. The interior will be “warehoused” for future work, leaving the once-popular double-screen theater pretty outside but empty inside.
“The economic conditions in the movie industry and in the village are such that we, unfortunately, won’t be able to open the Cameo at this time,” said Robert Morini, principal of Cameo Brewster LLC. “That doesn’t mean the theater won’t open again.”
Morini said he was unable to find a tenant, either a movie-theater operator or a not-for-profit organization, but is hopeful that one will come forward soon. Potential uses for the 6,564-square-foot site include a venue for live theater and cultural performances or a movie house featuring specialty or artistic films.
The Cameo is the anchor in a $200,000 grant presented in January 2005 to the Putnam County Economic Development Corporation by the state’s Main Street Program, a division of the New York State Housing Trust Corp. The Cameo’s portion was limited to $100,000, contingent upon the owner matching it with $300,000 of his own money. Morini can spend less than that and still access some of the state grant money. For every $3 he spends, the grant will give him $1.
The remaining $100,000 will provide $50,000 for rehabilitating the former post office at 20-30 Main St., $25,000 for streetscape enhancements and $25,000 for fixing the facades of several Main Street buildings. Those improvements are now in varying stages of execution and require that owners provide matching funds.
Morini said it would cost between $750,000 and $1 million to restore the entire Cameo Theater. At this point, he has hired an architect and is uncertain how much it will cost to refurbish the building’s facade, including the marquee, and the Cameo Playhouse, he said.
It is expected that the playhouse, a small retail space, will be used by the village’s new constabulary force for its base of operations. Constables, meant to address quality-of-life issues in the half-square-mile village, reported for duty Thursday. The office will be leased to the village for a sum of probably $1 a year, village Treasurer Michael Santos said.
“It looked to me like the entire effort was going to fail,” Mayor John Degnan said at a recent Team Brewster meeting. “There were difficulties with the anchor, but we found ways to compromise with a phased renovation of the facade and using the playhouse for the constables.”
The grant must be used by early 2008, said Elizabeth Duffy-Rau, the county’s project coordinator.
Morini purchased the Cameo in September 2000 from Southeast resident Denise Quinn for $195,000. The Cameo was built in 1939 and was a 525-seat single-screen cinema until it was converted into twin theaters in the 1970s. The theater went dark in 1997.
Copyright 2006 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York.
In the mid-1970s, the Cameo was a dollar house. I don’t recall how long this policy remained, but I used to drive from New Milford tp go here, and recall seeing Carrie, Burnt Offerings and Fast Break. The art deco appointments were still beautiful and in fine shape at the time, and every time I go by the Cameo it breaks my heart.
I recall the Cameo being $1 through the 70s and into the 80s as well.
I am interested in this theater and its potential in the community. Does anyone know the status of the theater and who I can contact about it?
Thanks so much
Last news was from 2 years ago in this comments section re: $200,000 to rehab it. I passed it a few weeks ago and it’s still dormant.
1982 Photo
GC, don’t bother.“Morini purchased the Cameo in September 2000 from Southeast resident Denise Quinn for $195,000”. Morini, who was also the broker at the time, rejected higher offers from buyers and groups who had plans to do great things with it for the community, but never submitted them to the owner Denise Quinn, so he could purchase it himself at a lower price. Like all the other property he owns in town, he is just sitting on it until he can profit enough from it. He’s the one renting the tiny apts to large groups of day laborers that you see hanging around on the streets in town.
If you want to contact Morini, or want to tell him what you think of the abandoned theater or ask where the $100K that was supposed to go to the theater went, his website and email are here:http://robertmorini.houlihanlawrence.com/
Here is an article about the Cameo from Boxoffice magazine in November 1939:
http://tinyurl.com/ydhov4h
My first encounter with the Cameo was when it was one glorious screen. My Father took me to see both STAR WARS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK on that single screen. Later when it became two screens I went there and saw all three BACK TO THE FUTURE films, ROCKY IV, MIDNIGHT RUN, HOWARD THE DUCK, STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME, RAIN MAN, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, DICK TRACY, DEAD POETS SOCIETY and SCENT OF A WOMAN. It’s so very sad to see it sit dormant. I fear it will be torn down, just like the Plaza in Scarsdale, where I’m from originally.