Hope Rises After Fire At Sag Harbor Cinema Groundbreaking

SAG HARBOR, NY — Hope rose from the ashes Saturday as the Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center hosted a groundbreaking.

After 16 months of fundraising, the revival of the iconic cinema became a brick and mortar reality for Main Street — construction is set to begin with foundation work to replace the front of the building that was gutted in a horrific fire on December 16, 2016 that devastated the community.

The property, located at 90 Main St., was purchased by the Sag Harbor Partnership in early January for $8 million, and the renovation is currently estimated at $6 million.

While the Partnership has set a goal of raising $3 million before July 1, work will begin immediately with the $1.5 million raised so far, with an eye toward respecting other Main Street businesses avoiding disturbances during the busiest part of the summer season.

After foundation work is completed, by July 1, work will continue from the back of the building, using the still-extant theater for staging and storage, the Partnership said in a release.

Award-winning architect Allen Kopelson of NK Architects was chosen for the project.

“We are reviving the spirit of the old cinema and making it into a state of the art cinematheque. There is tremendous passion from everyone involved with the project," he said.

Racanelli Construction was also selected for the project; a division of Racanelli, ConRac Construction LLC, a WMBE-certified company, was chosen to manage the first phase of the building process, the release said.

Sag Harbor Partnership Vice President and Cinema Campaign Chair April Gornik expressed joy at the groundbreaking: "It's so thrilling to actually start the building process. We love the metaphor that a new foundation represents."

"With the groundbreaking for the Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center, another milestone has been reached in the community effort to restore and revitalize our village's beloved movie theater," New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele said. "The Partnership is raising our cinema from the ashes to new heights by restoring the best of the old, while providing us with a future filled with new cultural opportunities for Sag Harbor and residents across the East End."

The project represents not just an enrichment of the arts and culture that are a cornerstone of the Sag Harbor community, but also a vital part of an economic development and job creation strategy that depends on a vibrant downtown, Thiele added. "Every Sag Harbor business will benefit from the project," he said.

Partnership President Nick Gazzolo reflected: "Many a director has said that casting is 90 percent of a successful project. We have got that right with the talent these A-list principals represent."

The Sag Harbor Partnership and the Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center boards will continue fundraising with upcoming events including "Big Tent: Party for the Cinema 2" on July 8, while also continuing to reach out to individuals and foundations for grants.

The goal is have the new Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center finished by the summer of 2019.

"This was truly the work of an incredible community of people with a common goal," Gornik has said.

The new Cinema will feature state-of-the-art equipment, a new sound system, and 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' meant it to be experienced, organizers of the effort said.

Patch photo courtesy Mike Heller/Sag Harbor Partnership.