Brookhaven Town to Demolish Plaza Theatre

Changes may finally be coming to the long-abandoned Plaza Theatre on East Main Street in Patchogue.

Brookhaven Town officials announced Wednesday that a vesting order in regard to the condemnation of the theater signed by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice John Bivona was entered and filed by the Suffolk County Clerk’s office last Friday.

The order transfers ownership of the Plaza Theatre from its former owner, East Main Realty Corp, to Brookhaven Town. These proceedings began nearly 18 months ago in October 2009, after which the owner rejected a $1.2 million offer from the town.

A release from the town says that the building is planned to be demolished.

“With title in our hands we are one step closer to knocking down the blighted eyesore that is the Plaza Theatre," Mark Lesko, Brookhaven Town supervisor said in a prepared statement. "The deteriorating, abandoned Plaza Theatre has been an obstacle hampering the revitalization of East Main Street for far too long."

The theatre was an early target of the “Blight to Light” initiative that Lesko started, in which are taken by the town and then demolished for new structures.

The theatre was built in 1962 and closed in the early 1980s during the advent of multiplex theatres. The building has been empty since it closed.

The Plaza Media Arts Center Organization was hoping to convert the building into a new media arts center, but likely will have to run its planned programs out of a different building because of lack of funds. Campbell Dalglish, president of the organization, said he hopes that the location will still become some type of community center.

“They are now successful in tearing down the blighted areas, but what are they doing for the light?" Dalglish asked. "Will it be a store or will it give us back what we lost there, which was a gathering place for cinema?"

Town officials said they hope to redevelop the half acre property as part of other projects in the East Main Street Corridor such as the extension of Patchogue Village’s sewer district into East Patchogue.

Patchogue Village Mayor Paul Pontieri said that the tearing down of the building can be symbolic of moving forward in Patchogue.

“This isn’t just getting rid of the eyesore, it’s a symbol of what can happen when things go forward,” Pontieri said.

Both parties still have to resolve compensation, which requires taking inventory of what is inside of the building to determine the value of the property. However, demolition of the building is not contingent on this agreement, which the town plans to do after removing asbestos from the site.

Suffolk County will loan $350,000 to the town for asbestos removal and demolition, with any extra to be paid back.