Ample Hills To Open New Location Next To Old Pavilion Theater

PARK SLOPE, NY — The local ice cream chain Ample Hills Creamery plans to open a new Park Slope location in one of the two storefronts being built next to the old Pavilion Theater.

Ample Hills leased space inside 192 Prospect Park West, next to the under-construction Nitehawk Cinema, to open their fourth Brooklyn location in the fall, Bklyner first reported. The space was originally slated to be demolished for a controversial condo project.

"This space housed an ice cream parlor in the 1930s, and it seems like a natural fit for us to perpetuate the legacy of a place where people can come together and enjoy ice cream with their friends and family," Ample Hill owners Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna said in a statement.

"We started the company with an ice cream cart in Prospect Park, and it's a dream come true to have our business come full circle with this historic location."

Developer Hidrock Properties announced plans this month to renovate the 192 Prospect Park spot and turn it into two storefronts. Workers will replace the facade with a wooden one with large windows and a painted metal cornice as well as renovate and replace the building's original brick foundation, architect John Field previously told Patch.

"We're really trying to preserve this back to quite a historic perspective as it was pretty much in the 30s," Field, a partner at Building Studio Architects, previously said. "The goal is to really rebuild this building, get rid of this eyesore and put some high-quality tenants in that space."

The storefront at 192 Prospect Park West was most recently the home of Circles Restaurant but it remained vacant for years after the eatery shut down. Hidrock bought the spot with the Pavilion Theater for $16 million in 2006.

They planned to add a floor to the Pavilion, tear down 192 Prospect Park West and build a 24-unit luxury condo building in its place, DNAinfo reported.

The plan was strongly opposed by locals who felt the condo was out of character for the historic district, but the LPC approved it in 2015 when the developers scaled back the project.

Hidrock dropped the condo plans last year after they sold the theater to a group of investors for $28 million. The new owners leased the Pavilion to Nitehawk, who's working on turning it into a seven-screen movie house expected to open in the spring.

Image: Building Studio Architects