Shore Theatre
1301 Surf Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11224
1301 Surf Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11224
15 people
favorited this theater
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The Gothamist has an article on the Shore Theatre’s proposed renovation/ landmark designation; it includes several nice photos of the theatre’s interior/ exterior: http://gothamist.com/2010/03/24/shore_theater.php
The Shore Theater hearing is scheduled for 12:15 – 12:35 pm. The LPC recommends that you arrive about a half-hour early, even though it’s usually more likely that they’re running behind schedule rather than ahead. More info and a copy of the LPC’s write up on the Shore @
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If you have additional info about the history of the Shore Theater or photos of the interior, now is the time to come forward. The exterior is currently up for landmarking, but the LPC may consider the interior at a later date. People who have been inside the Shore have said that architectural features of the ornate interior remain and can be restored.
If you can’t attend the hearing, you can write a letter to LPC in support of the designation. I should be received by the hearing date. Mailing address: Landmarks Preservation Commission, Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street, 9th Floor New York, NY 10007.
The Landmarks Preservation Committee has a hearing set for March 23rd to designate the exterior of the Shore Theatre as a landmark. Chances appear quite good that this will happen! I’ll keep everyone posted!
I think the Loews Jersey still has the name on the Marquee too.
I do too! I assume though that the Loews name can no longer be officially used as the name is now “owned” by AMC. I do wish they will allow it for historical buildings but I understand that they would not want to be seen as having an interest in theaters that don’t belong to them. Though Loews is now owned by AMC, the Loews storied name still graces many operating theaters including the multiplex that pays great tribute to the old palaces of New York: Loews Lincoln Square.
Loews Coney Island I like the name.
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City considering landmark designation for Coney Island Theatre
6:15 PM, February 9, 2010 ι By RICH CALDER
It opened in 1924 with the intention of turning Coney Island into a year-round tourist destination.
And now city officials are considering giving “landmark” designation to the long-shuttered Coney Island Theatre building, so it could be protected and eventually become a key part of Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to finally revive the fabled â€" but rundown â€" summer seaside district into a year-round attraction.
“If we’re going to be serious about getting people to Coney Island year-round, we need a live entertainment venue, and this 2,500-seat theater not only showed movies in its heyday, but offered Broadway-style live shows,” said Dick Zigun, of Coney Island USA, which submitted the proposal. “We’re excited.”
However, Kansas Fried Chicken king Horace Bullard and business partner Peter Sheffer, who co-own the Surf Avenue building, said they oppose landmark status because it would “restrict” redevelopment in the amusement district.
“The icons of old Coney Island should be used as an incorporation of a new Coney Island without placement, size, and design restrictions,” they said in an e-mail. “We do not think that the building without modification enhances the long-term viability of the amusement district. Landmarking the building will stymie the future growth of a renowned amusement area that has always been about the latest, greatest and newest.”
The Landmarks Preservation Commission said it will host a public hearing on the matter in the coming months.
The 1920 construction of the Stillwell Avenue subway station and construction of the boardwalk, which made the beachfront publicly accessible for the first time, paved the way for a revamped Coney Island and the building, which is Coney Island’s tallest and a modest interpretation of an Italian Renaissance palazzo.
The site is unusual for its combination of a theater with a full-size office building, something seen more in Manhattan’s theater district than the outer boroughs.
According to a report released by the city it “was constructed in 1924-25 to the designs of experienced theater architects Reilly & Hall, with associate architect Samuel L. Malkind, all of whom were protégés of the famous theater architect Thomas W. Lamb.
“The builder was the Chanin Construction Company, specialists in theater construction. Opened on June 27, 1925 with screenings of the silent film ‘The Sporting Venus’ and live performances by the famous Siamese twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, the seven-story neo-Renaissance Revival style structure housed a 2,500-seat auditorium theater for vaudeville and motion pictures, as well as six stories of office space.
“Shortly after its opening, the theater came under the operation of Marcus Loew, founder of one of the nation’s premier movie theater chains. According to one source, Al Jolson performed at Loew’s Coney Island Theatre on August 11, 1949.”
Renamed “Shore Theater” in 1964, it fell on hard times in its final years as an adult movie house and bingo parlor before closing for good in 1973.
The hearing was this morning and board unanimously voted in favor to calendar the Shore Theater – the next step is a public hearing.
More can be found here:
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Horace Bullard – the founder of Kansas Fried Chicken – owns several properties around Coney Island, including the Shore. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, he had grand plans of building a new Steeplechase Park, but it was squashed for a variety of reasons and he was eventually shut out by the construction of the Brooklyn Cyclones stadium on that property. In 2000, the city bulldozed the Thunderbolt roller coaster on his property which set off years of lawsuits along with major issues of unpaid back taxes. He has been very bitter about any dealings with the city and I believe he is waiting for a top dollar offer before making any moves.
I’ve heard mixed stories about that the state of the Shore theater – my impression is that there is water damage and a lot of pigeon damage, but nothing that couldn’t be remedied. The building has had some issues with falling terra cotta in the last 5 years and has been surrounded by a safety awning. From the few people I know that have been in the building in the last couple of years – they felt that it was a viable property for a live concert venue – something that could work well as part of Coney’s revitalization.
Thank you so much for posting that jimvid. I wish I could go but I have work that day. I would have loved to have been there. Does anyone know what is left in this theatre I mean what is intact? dressing rooms, auditorium, seating? Anything at all? And why is the owner so against posting pictures of his theatre? Also I am aware of his plan for a coney island of the future I saw it in the coney island book. It looked like an amazing place and wish it would have come true. Hoarace Bullard I think his name is. Just wish he was more open to showing his theatre. I would even pay to see it inside now.
Landmark Designation hearing on 2/9/10
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newyork, Warren at one time had afew pictures of the auditorium posted. Yes, it has a stage that was once used for a film/vaudville policy. No it was not multplexed. People buy property like this in areas that are in disrepair and hope to make a killing if the area goes into a turn around. Coney Island will come back to life in the future.
That really is a shame all of these theatres were just left to rot and be gutted. Every one of these theatres should have been landmarked and taken care of. Does anyone have pictures of what it did look like inside when it was running? And was this a theatre with a stage for vaudville? Was it multiplexed? And why did the new owner let it go into disrepair? When did he buy the place?
Correct, it’s not photobucket, those photos were removed. I remember seeing them, and The entire ceiling above the proscenium has collapsed to the floor, severe water damage on the right side of the stage, also plaster destroyed. All the seats gone. Severe water damage throughout….and those photos were a number of years old….the place couldn’t have gotten better.
newyork, About 4 years ago the owner asked the person that posted pictures to have them removed from the site. On Warren’s photobucket picture links, from time to time he would pull a picture from his bucket account and replace it. So many of the links for pictures are dead. What I remember about those earlier pictures was that the theatre had water damage to the ceiling.
Hi none of the links work to the interior pictures. Almost every time I click on the photobucket links they never ever work. Maybe there is a better website to post pictures on? Also does anyone know what the theatre looks like inside now? Are the dressin rooms intact as well as the stage? There has to be a better way to post there pictures though. Also has anyone made a video of the interior as well? And what exactly is left inside as far as the original decor?
According to OASISNYC, the total building area is 115,667 sf.
Does anyone know the square footage of the building or where I can get a floorplan?
here’s a photo i took on a gorgeous sunny December day in 2005
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and from the beach in the background behind the wonder wheel
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Renewing link.
Just to correct another commenter, this was not known as the Gayway. There was a Gayway Bar + Grill next door.
A very pleasant surprise! It loks like there is hope for the Loew’s Coney Island aka Shore Theatre! It may be nominated for landmark status and the City is backing it! Please read article below:
Is this a landmark? For ‘Shore’ it is! By Mike McLaughlin
The Brooklyn Paper
Landmark status awaits â€" at long last, some say â€" at least two historic buildings in Coney Island, including the derelict Shore Theater, but possibly not the most famous site in the amusement area, Nathan’s Famous hot dog restaurant.
Preservationists nominated the façade and interior of the 1920s vaudeville playhouse on Surf Avenue for protective status several years ago, but Mayor Bloomberg’s vast redevelopment plan for Coney Island, which the City Council approved last week, jumpstarted the lingering review by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
“The architectural quality is every bit as wonderful as Broadway theaters that have received landmarking,†said Dick Zigun of Coney Island USA, the group that made the request. “The city let us know they’re sympathetic to our request.â€
Zigun said it was urgent for the landmarks commission to evaluate the Shore Theater, owned by fried chicken magnate Horace Bullard, and other iconic structures now that the mayor won the passage of his plan to rebuild a sweeping cross section of the People’s Playground.
The Shore Theater, formerly the Loew’s Coney Island, was built in 1925 in a neo-Renaissance style. In addition to staging musicals, it served as a movie theater and has six stories of offices above it.
The auditorium still showed live entertainment through the 1960s, according to Charlie Denson, author of “Coney Island Lost and Found,†But a seedier fate awaited the stalwart.
In Coney Island’s darker days in the 1970s, it was an X-rated movie house.
By the time Bullard acquired the building in 1978, it no longer showed smut. Bullard briefly operated a branch of his Kansas Fried Chicken chain there, though it’s been boarded up for decades and the auditorium’s seat have been ripped out and replaced by concrete slabs.
Denson said that despite the neglect, the Shore represents a key piece of Coney Island’s legacy and should be salvaged.
“All those buildings that went up in the 1920s have a major symbolic value because that is the last time Coney Island had a major redevelopment,†said Denson.
Yet the city’s apparent willingness to save pieces of Coney Island’s glory days, also including a likely designation for Coney Island USA’s home on Surf Avenue, may not extend to the beloved Nathan’s Famous stand opposite the Shore Theater at the intersection of Stillwell and Surf avenues.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission has yet to wrap up its analysis of the classic fast-food joint, even though it was part of the application submitted by Coney Island USA earlier this decade.
Although Nathan’s neon light and unmistakable signage are beloved, the squat building might not have the architectural or historical clout to make it onto the list of local protected sites that also include the Cyclone roller coaster, Deno’s Wonder Wheel ride and the Childs restaurant building, now the Dreamland skating rink.
Indeed, the existing Nathan’s days may be numbered, thanks to the mayor’s redevelopment plan.
A report from the Department of City Planning released in January said the frankfurter Mecca, which dates back to 1916, could be replaced by a hotel, retail or new amusement.
Its possible demolition unleashed an online petition drive on Sunday to save it from the wrecking ball. The petition’s organizers want to obtain 50,000 Internet signatures, though through Tuesday, they had 128.
The future is uncertain for the Shore Theater, too. Once, it was part of the core amusement area, but now it’s in the area targeted for potentially lucrative residential development. If it’s deemed a landmark, its upper floors could be converted to apartments, but the exterior would be unalterable and the theater would be restored.
A landmarks commission spokeswoman said that no hearing is scheduled for the Shore or Coney Island USA buildings, but said the city is interested in conserving both.
Was also known for a short while as the “Gayway.”
I would say the Kings is in WAY better shape than the Shore (judging by photos I have seen of either), but would probably say the Keiths is in worse shape than the Shore.
That’s what I was afraid of. I believe that the current state of the RKO Keiths Flushing is much worse and yet there is now a growing movement to save it. The Loews Kings is better but at least the city is trying to find a way to save it. I don’t know who would spearhead an effort to save the Shore.