The property owner of the site of a proposed multiplex movie theater on Route 58 is exploring whether it can include a drive-through restaurant in the plan, according to Riverhead deputy town attorney Dawn Thomas.
Tag: Movie Theater
Some say the era of brick-and-mortar retail may be waning, but a rundown of current building applications and ongoing projects for Route 58 includes more than a dozen proposals.
So what does that mean for Riverhead’s bustling shopping district? READ
The first Facebook comment we received on a story we published online last week about plans for a multiplex in Riverhead said it all.
“Builder: Cinema Deal is Sealed.”
“Hazeltine to the Movies?”
“Mulling Tanger Multiplex?”
Those are just some of the headlines published by the News-Review over the years regarding proposals to build multiplex movie theaters in Riverhead.
And, of course, none of them was ever built.
A proposed 50,340-square-foot, 10-to-12-screen multiplex movie theater at the site of the former Walmart on Route 58 was unanimously approved by the Suffolk County Planning Commission Wednesday.
The Riverhead Town Board on Thursday discussed setting public hearings on zoning changes intended to allow movie theaters on Route 58, where the town has been trying to convince Regal Entertainment Group, the largest movie theater chain in the U.S., to locate at the former Walmart site.
Councilwoman Jodi Giglio said the owner of the former Walmart building on Route 58 may be interested in bringing in a movie theater. (Credit: Carrie Miller, file)
Riverhead Councilwoman Jodi Giglio’s comment at the end of Thursday’s Town Board work session meeting almost flew under the public’s radar.
Someone might be interested in bringing a movie theater to Riverhead, she mentioned. (more…)
BARBARAELLEN KOCH FILE PHOTO | The Woolworth site was one location Supervisor Sean Walter originally thought could work for a downtown movie theater.
Supervisor Sean Walter’s vision of a downtown Riverhead movie theater has gained little momentum as critics claim a Route 58 location would be more logical.
Mr. Walter said he still hopes to lure a movie theater downtown, but would be willing to consider alternate locations such as Route 58. He said he’s currently talking to representatives from two movie theater companies about coming to Riverhead but wasn’t optimistic.
“I don’t have a lot of confidence in getting one,” he said.
Councilmen John Dunleavy and George Gabrielsen said the idea of restricting a movie theater to only downtown Riverhead theater makes little sense.
They both said parking in downtown would be a problem. A theater would require 1,200 parking spaces, Mr. Dunleavy said, while there are only 500 currently downtown.
Mr. Gabrielsen said it’s all about location.
“We’ve really got to get that archaic idea of a downtown movie theater out of our heads,” Mr. Gabrielsen said.
Mr. Walter tried to lure Regal Cinemas to the former Woolworth building on East Main Street in 2011 before the deal fell apart in early 2012. One of the companies he’s speaking with now owns the Movieland Cinema on Route 112 in Coram, he said. The other “is a spinoff of one of the large cinema groups,” he said, although he declined to identify it.
“I’m trying to bring them here, the problem is, we’re not getting a lot of traction because that business seems to be a dying business,” Mr. Walter said.
With Regal, Mr. Walter insisted on trying to get the company downtown instead of Route 58, a preferred destination for theater companies.
Now he’s softened that stance because space in downtown may be filling up with other uses, he said.
The Woolworth building, which Mr. Walter said was ideal for a theater, is now being developed with a gym, retail stores and apartments. The supervisor said the only property left that might be big enough for a theater is the former Sears building, but apartments are also being proposed for that building.
“I would much rather it be on Main Street, but if Main Street fills up, obviously I’m not going to lock them out if someone wants to bring one to Route 58,” Mr. Walter said.
Sheldon Gordon, a principal in Riverhead Enterprises, the company that owns the Sear’s building, said they tried to contact some movie theater companies about coming downtown, but the companies haven’t gotten back to them.
Mr. Walter acknowledged it’s beneficial for a movie theater to be in a commercial shopping center.
“[Theaters] don’t generate enough money to pay what other businesses pay, but shopping center owners like movie theaters because they are anchors and they bring hordes of people to the shopping center.”
A zoning change would be required for a movie theater to open on Route 58. In 2004 the Town Board voted to eliminate movie theaters as a permitted use on Route 58 in an effort to lure a theater downtown.
Mr. Walter said none of the theater companies he’s talked to recently have insisted on going on Route 58, but if one did, “it would be something we’d have to consider,” he said.
Councilwoman Jodi Giglio said she would support a Route 58 theater if the developer agreed to put a smaller theater downtown, something a company she’s spoken with — but didn’t identify — has suggested.
Mr. Dunleavy suggested a movie theater near The All Star bowling alley, which is technically on Route 25.
One way or another, downtown wouldn’t work for a theater, Mr. Gabrielsen said.
“It’s got everything going against it,” he said. “I can’t see it happening. Unless you open up Route 58, you’re never going to get a movie theater.”