Famed Designers Join Fight To Save Sag Harbor Cinema

SAG HARBOR, NY — Famous designers have now flocked to join an army of supporters joining to save the Sag Harbor Cinema.

Fashion icons Donna Karan and Nicole Miller attended a fundraising event at HGU New York in Manhattan’s Nomad District to benefit the theater.

The event followed the news that Billy Joel, Martin Scorsese, Andy Cohen and Harvey Weinstein have all stepped up to join the campaign being led by the Sag Harbor Partnership to restore and rebuild the Sag Harbor Cinema, ravaged by a December fire that swept through the village.

Progress is already taking place: Visitors to Sag Harbor over Memorial Day weekend will see a new wall where a gaping hole once marked the spot where the fire ripped through the theater.

Donated through the efforts of NK Architects and Croxton Collaborative Architects, with the help of Aidan Corish of TANGRAM Intelligent Branding and local builder Men At Work, the new 42' wall will feature an homage to first responders and a request for help in rebuilding.

Included in the wall design will be cutaway views of the new vision for the Cinema by NK Architects and Croxton Collaborative Architects.

Others who've opened their hearts for the theater recently included designer Elizabeth Dow of Elizabeth Dow East Hampton, fabric historian and interior designer of the Obama White House, who has offered to furnish all fabric for the theater's new seating.

The repair of the Cinema’s badly damaged metal letters has been offered by sculptor-metal smith John Battle, whose workshop is in Bridgehampton.

In addition, Jack Keats of SurfandSlide approached the Partnership to offer T-shirts with his own version of the famous Sag Harbor logo; hats with the a similar logo have been donated to the effort by Tom Bongiorno of Bongiorno Brand who will dedicate profits from sales to the effort to save the Cinema, the Partnership said in a release.

Topping Rose House has offered to donate all proceeds from its “Competitive Rosé Wine Tasting Event to be held Saturday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. to benefit the Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center.

Sag Harbor Partnership's Party for the Cinema takes place in the Big Tent on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor on Sunday, July 16, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event will feature an art auction and a “Taste of Sag Harbor” with vendors from all local restaurants and local wine and lager, as well as face painting for kids.

For information and to purchase tickets, click here.

Billy Joel opened his heart recently and joined others in a mission to save the beloved Sag Harbor Cinema after a devastating fire ripped through the village in December.

April Jornik, vice president of the Sag Harbor Partnership, confirmed that Billy Joel will get the "naming rights" to the popcorn stand.

"In a sense, everybody thinks Sag Harbor is their home, and Billy Joel is the most famous hometown boy we have. The fact that he has stepped up in such a remarkable, generous way has just given us all such a sense of empowerment and hope — and we know he did it for love. He knows the value of the Cinema to Sag Harbor and Main Street. We're just honored to have him be a part of our efforts," Jornik said.

When Joel was asked, she said, he didn't hesitate for a beat. "He just said 'yes' instantly," Jornik said.

"The Sag Harbor Partnership has also confirmed that the Cinema Popcorn Stand will be named after Mr. Joel in honor of his generous gift and as a welcome reminder of his ongoing support for the community," a release said.

Some of the major improvements planned for the new Cinema, which will keep all its Art-Deco architectural charm, is the addition of state-of-the-art equipment planned with Digital Media Systems advisors working with the Cinema’s architects.

The Cinema will have a completely new sound system, and feature projection ratios and equipment that will allow film to be shown as it was intended, and give the house the ability to show digital, 35mm, and even 16mm with "astonishing resolution, so that the viewer experience will be as the filmmakers’ had intended. This will be a plus that few other art houses anywhere offer, and will make the emphasis on offering film history as well as contemporary movie-making a reality," the SHP said.

When the ferocious fire first swept through the village, the fear was that the Cinema was gone completely.

But then, in what seemed like the biggest Christmas miracle of all, the interior auditorium-seating section of the Sag Harbor Cinema survived.

Although the facade of the building, and the large, long lobby, which included the ticket window and concession stand, was destroyed in the blaze and later demolished for safety reasons, the seats of the theater and auditorium portion, which were located behind the large lobby, are still intact.

For those mourning the loss of the iconic theater, the news inspired hope.

The iconic neon Sag Harbor sign, which graced the facade of the beloved theater, was also saved.