Kings Theatre

I’m with you Tinseltoes….I hope this isn’t a “pie in the sky”. You would think by now more would have been started. A few workers showing up once in a while sounds like they are just washing it down. Maybe they are waiting for the financing to come through before they send in a team. And it will take quite a full-time team won’t it?

Your best bet is calling the office. When the Oriental was under construction in Chicago I arranged a tour through the management office. I had to sign a waiver and wear a hard hat. But they took me up on the scaffolding, and we walked across the auditorium right under the dome. It was pretty neat.

I’d say that’s highly unlikely.

Not at the moment. The Kings is currently being restored before reopening in early 2015.

I may be naive, but I would disagree about opposition from the Kings.
The Paramount belongs to LIU and, in theory, could be restored and brought back to life by them. They wouldn’t need the Kings cooperation unless LIU was looking for city funds to restore the theater. BAM also might not object as this area is increasingly a performing arts center and more venues create more business for everyone (just look at Times Square). I believe a restored Brooklyn Paramount must be in Brooklyn’s future and my hope is that it could be accomplished without city subsidies. I am fairly confident that LIU would not be permitted to gut the theater as there would be lots of protests. My guess is that they are not just going to let it sit there. I believe they will ultimately decide to restore it.

Back in 1972, when I graduated for JHS 226 in Ozone Park, our auditorium was also not big enough and so we held our graduation at Loew’s Valencia (a sister theater to the Loew’s Kings)! I was mesmerized by its beauty and saw several films there like The Ten Commandments and The Omega Man. I remember sometimes just staring at the ceiling watching the clouds roll by. It was the only Wonder Theater that I ever attended and so I was especially interested in the movement to save the one remaining Wonder Theater that was in danger. Ironically, the one theater that was abandoned for over 30 years, will likely be the one that outshines them all when it is restored and reopened to the public.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Barbra Streisand did not usher here, although she did atthen the theater as a patron. From her website:

The Loew’s Kings Theater in Brooklyn APRIL 6, 2011, 3:54 am I was happy to hear recently that the Loew’s Kings Theater in Brooklyn, New York will be undergoing renovations for a reopening in 2014 . It was one of those beautiful old movie palaces of the past. I was 13 years old when I first started spending many a wonderful afternoon there, partly because it had double features, air conditioning and great ice cream cones.

I’d like to set the record straight on one point. Some articles have said that I was an usher there. That wasn’t the case … I was just a kid, a paying customer, a movie lover. Just for the record, a few years later, I did usher in Manhattan’s theater district, which was wonderful, because I got to see the plays for free. . http://www.barbrastreisand.com/us/truth-alert/loews-kings-theater-brooklyn

Hi ZiegfeldMan! I grew up in South Ozone Park and going the Valencia was always a special treat but it happened rarely because Jamaica was so dicey back then. That said I have amazing memories of it and always will. It is also why I have a special attachment to the Kings. As a sister theater to the other 4 Wonder theaters (all of which have either been restored or in good hands) it was important to me that the Kings be saved. As for the Alden, I only remember seeing one movie there; Creepshow with Adrienne Barbaeu! :–) The theater was already split, but I was in the section that still showed the proscenium arch and I remember being awed back then. My understanding is that most of that theater might still be intact behind retail walls. One day I’d like to go back to the Valencia though I think it would bother me to see it as a church though I am very happy that it is still around.

I was down there Summer before last just to reacquaint myself. Nothing was going on, but I walked around and used my imagination. it is a vibrant, historic multi-ethnic neighborhood. The Kings will be the centerpiece, and by the way, I grew up in Howard beach and used to go shopping for"back to school" clothes in Jamaica. I was a frequent visitor to the Valencia and the Alden across the street.

I made the trek to the Paradise in the Bronx in October, the day of that freak snow storm and loved it. Now a performing arts center with a 70’s ‘Soul" concert that the crowd, including me, really, got into, dancing in the aisles. The place, especially the lobby and murals are gorgeous.

I want to go too! :–) Though I never attended the Kings whie it was an active theater, I did attend its sister theater The Valencia where I saw films like the Ten Commandments and The Omega Man. My Junior High School graduation was also there. So when I found out that the Kings was in such dire straights I attended not one, but 2 tours of the abandoned theater while the EDC was looking for developers to restore it and I was mesmerized by its beauty. In prior comments I detailed y experiences on those tours but I always had faith that the city would come through and they have. This will be Brooklyn’s pride and joy and a Jewel for the entire city. Hopefully, this will also lead to the redevelopment of the Brooklyn Paramount in the fast developing downtown area. Then Brooklyn will have, not one, but two, stunning theaters. There is room for both.

I wonder if the Kings is on schedule to re-open in 2014? Only two years away and I can hardly wait!!!

Tinseltoes, you’re the tops! Thanks

It is probably a reference to Samuel J. Tilden, once a governor of New York and a presidential aspirant. Fort Tilden State Park and a number of other institutions in Brooklyn and Queens are named for him.