Beach 4 Theatre

TheaterBuff1 on May 9, 2008 at 7:45 am

Boy, that effort to try to resuscitate it didn’t last long, did it? But with Corzine’s being the current governor of New Jersey I’m not at all surprised. For you see how he’s going after the state’s parks now, the big “get in, make a bundle, get out while you still can” kind of thing, leaving the citizens of the state to only remember what once was once he’s gone. Condos have their place. But geeze, in highly historic Cape May? What could possibly be a bigger deathknell for the state over than that? In light of that I sure hope the Beach 4 can find some way to survive. It’s a beautiful theater, going by all recent photos I’ve seen of it, masterfully designed by W.H.Lee no less. But with Hurricane Jon Corzine pending, who knows?

teecee on May 8, 2008 at 12:19 am

Just added to Preservation New Jersey’s 10 most endangered historic sites 2008 list:
View link

barrygoodkin on December 1, 2007 at 1:39 am

The website for the Beach Theatre is www.beachtheatre.org If you click on W. C. Hunt you will see an article that I wrote on this pioneer showman who was responsible for the building of the Beach Theatre. All of the Hunt Theatres were featured in a Theatre Historical Society of America, Marquee, Vol. 36 No.1 published in 2004.

kencmcintyre on September 11, 2007 at 2:47 am

My 1967 FDY lists the Hunts Theaters at that time as follows: Cape May – Beach, Liberty. Stone Harbor – Harbor, Park. Wildwood – Blaker, Casino, Ocean, Shore, Regent, Starlight Ballroom, Strand.

I grew up in South Jersey and undoubtedly saw films in at least some of these theaters, without paying much attention to the theater’s actual identity. I have no idea how many of these are still standing.

HowardBHaas on September 9, 2007 at 4:22 pm

Wonderful!
in case link breaks, here is above story:
BEACH THEATER MAY HAVE A BRIGHTER FUTURE
Corin Wilson – 9/7/07 04:46 pm

CAPE MAY—A loan has been approved to help save Cape May’s beach theater.

At a special meeting Friday in Cape May, a check was presented to the Beach Theater Foundation for $100,000 to help keep the 60-yearâ€"old movie house open.

Officials say this money will hopefully secure the theater’s future in the city, “This will enable them to sign their lease agreement and take possession of the theater for 12 to 18 months with the hope of permanent acquisition,” said Councilman David Kurkowski.

The theater will be open to the public and fundraising efforts to help keep the theater open will be ongoing for the next 12 to 18 months.

TheaterBuff1 on September 1, 2007 at 9:26 am

Based on the recent photo that Lost Memory provided us a link for (see above), if this beautiful theater cannot be described as upscale, most particularly when you look at William Harold Lee’s masterful architectural work, which appears to be being meticulously maintained, I think somebody is very mixed up with what they regard as “upscale.” This theater is upscale. The alternative which is being proposed is just somebody who obviously isn’t very well educated not thinking straight. It’s like saying, “Let’s take the Mona Lisa down from the wall to put up something more ‘upscale’.”

HowardBHaas on August 31, 2007 at 8:14 pm

Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer:
View link

fight for the Beach
By Jacqueline L. Urgo
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

GERALD S. WILLIAMS/Inquirer
Jerry Gaffney hopes his committee can save the Beach Theater from destruction.
CAPE MAY – Preservationists in this Jersey Shore town, where Victoriana has long reigned as the architectural sensibility, are mounting a surprising fight to save a 1950s-era movie theater.
Beach Theatre – built in a Neocolonial Revival style that merged a flashy red neon marquee with Early American lanterns and wainscoting – is as much a part of the colorful fabric of this resort as the 600 Victorian houses that line its narrow streets, according to those looking to save the structure.

“People love this theater. It’s been here for years and it’s a big part of this town, both for the people who live here and for visitors,” said Jerry Gaffney, a member of the board of directors of the Beach Theatre Foundation Inc., a nonprofit group that has collected about 1,300 signatures on a petition seeking to preserve and restore the theater.

The group’s vision for the property, which is just across the street from the Atlantic Ocean, is to create an art-house style theater that would show varied genres of films – including animated, indie and foreign – on its four screens. The dozen or so retail stores and eateries that surround the theater, which was built in 1950, also would be upgraded.

But Frank Investments, a Florida-based entertainment and real estate development company, earlier this year obtained permits to demolish the 860-seat theater and adjacent stores to build an upscale condominium and shopping complex.

Gaffney said preservationists might be able to stave off the development – at least for a year – if the Cape May City Council approved a $100,000 payment to Frank Investments.

The payment would give the foundation control of the theater for a year; in that time, the foundation would try to come up with $12 million to buy the property or find an investor who would agree not to tear down the structure.

A public hearing and City Council vote are scheduled for Sept. 4 at 1 p.m.

Bruce C. Frank, president of Frank Investments, has said that if his company moves forward with the project, it will be “posh, in the Ritz-Carlton style,” providing something that “is missing in Cape May.”

“People want luxury. They want high end,” Frank told the New York Times earlier this month.

Since the 1970s, the town, which in its entirety is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has followed strict architectural-preservation codes within its downtown district. Home and business owners are required to adhere to historically accurate paint colors, exterior trims, doors and fences.

What has evolved is an enclave of Victorian architecture known nationwide for its numerous bed-and-breakfast inns.

There are signs, however, that Frank may be right about an appetite for the high life.

When a group of investors spent $22 million five years ago to remake the closed Congress Hall into an upscale establishment charging as much as $950 a night for a room, longtime Cape May residents said it wouldn’t fly.

But now Versace-clad New Yorkers and Philadelphians sporting Hermes luggage arrive by the luxury SUV-load for stays booked months in advance. The hotel’s 106 rooms and suites have consistently been booked solid during prime vacation times since the facility reopened in 2002.

“I think since they redid Congress Hall, you really can feel a change in the air when you walk around the [Washington Street pedestrian] mall,” said Terry Wilkins, 48, of North Cape May, whose family has been in the area since the 1860s.

“People are much more urbane, better dressed than they used to be,” Wilkins said. “But I think, in a way, it’s eroding the small-town feel that Cape May always had. I don’t think a lot of people like the word upscale when they hear it used in relation to Cape May.”

Some people simply like Cape May the way it is. A few years ago, officials proposed a parking garage to alleviate congestion, but it didn’t get far.

“We don’t need a parking garage,” said Fred Jones, 77, who has lived in the area his entire life. “Imagine what that would look like here. Talk about ruining the character of the place.”

Those fighting for Cape May’s lone movie house also talk about the town’s unique character.

“It’s a David and Goliath situation when it comes to the idea of preservation vs. condos,” said Lelah Eppenbach, executive director of the Beach Theatre Foundation. “But it’s a defining moment for the town, and I think that people are in favor of saving the theater. There’s a lot of potential there, and I think people realize you can upgrade the space without completely demolishing the theater and building condos.”

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SaveTheBeach on August 12, 2007 at 3:36 am

correction on website address: www.beachtheatre.org or www.beachtheatre.net

georgeator on May 22, 2007 at 3:55 pm

As far as the theater reopening, it is slated to reopen Memorial Weekend through a lease agreement with a nonprofit group attempting to save the theater. The theater remains in a very precarious position. The Frank family presented a demolition proposal to the city of Cape May’s Historic Preservation Commission on May 15,saying that the theater is not profitable and in need of repair.
The commission rejected the demolition by a very slim margin(4-3).
The Beach Theater Organization has set up a website with the latest information and a fund drive. It has great photos and information and is worth checking out.

SaveTheBeach on March 8, 2007 at 4:23 am

Here is story about the status of the Beach Theatre that is running on CapeMay.com:
View link

SaveTheBeach on February 24, 2007 at 9:47 pm

You can read about the plan to save the Beach Theatre via an interview I did with the Cape May County Herald last week: View link

There may be some inital non-profit fund raising needed, so “ggreg”, we might need your help. Should have more defintive plan very shortly. My email address was checked and is working.

TheaterBuff1 on February 17, 2007 at 3:55 am

You’re off to a really great start with what I feel is a really great slogan. So congrats on that! But in looking ahead I’ve been saying for the longest time now that we need a Marshall Plan for the U.S. while I feel restoring the Beach Theatre the right way would fit in very well with that. If we somehow can get that momentum of a Marshall Plan going.

Meantime, my own personal exposure to Cape May has been very minimal. But the best memory I have of it ties in with that song, “On the Way to Cape May.” In the summer of 1971, while staying with my family in Ocean City, on one particular day we followed the “Gull Route” down to Cape May, and the experience was every bit as dreamlike as in that song. There were no development booms going on back then, everything was in perfect balance seaside town after seaside town after seaside town. No poverty, no despair, nothing ugly. Just all this littoral beauty and celebratory sense of freedom every mile of the way. The great state of New Jersey with its greatest seaside resorts in the world. But I’d dread to see what that run looks like now. As I say, we need some sort of a Marshall Plan for the U.S., and desperately. For without that I hesitate to say, “Oh yes, the Beach Theatre could easily be brought back to what it once had been if not even better.” I would certainly root for anyone who would try to. But short of that needed Marshall Plan? Schwew!