Curtain Falls On Westhampton Beach Movie Theater, Now For Sale

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY — The curtain has fallen permanently on an iconic movie theater in Westhampton Beach: The Hampton Arts Cinema is listed with the Melville-based Cushman & Wakefield at $1.1 million.

The former movie theater, located at 2 Brook Road, is situated on a 10,018 square foot parcel with a free-standing 8,580 square foot commercial building "at the gateway to Westhampton Beach's downtown district," according to Cushman & Wakefield. The property is zoned Business District 1 in Westhampton Beach.

"Residents and visitors loved our quaint Hampton Arts Cinema as an informal place to meet friends and share a movie as a community, and it has been missed," said Westhampton Beach Village Mayor Maria Moore. "But like all movie theaters, it was under great strain as a result of restrictions associated with the pandemic as well as streaming movie services. Our little cinema holds fond memories for many in our village, and I for one am hoping that the new owner of the property will continue with that use."

In October, 2020, the coronavirus left the future uncertain for an iconic movie theater in Westhampton Beach.

In 2020, Marc Sabow, attorney for the family that owned the building where the Hampton Arts Cinema is located on Brook Road, told Patch that the pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the business.

The Hamptons Arts Cinema, a small, twin-screen theater, was a mainstay in the community since 1927, when it was known as the Hampton Star Theater, according to a video made in 2014 for a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for necessary upgrades, including a digital projection system.

The theater survived the Hurricane of '38, Superstorm Sandy and a fire in 1947 — but it could not survive the economic shutdown of the pandemic.

The theater was long known as a focal point in Westhampton Beach: Besides showing first-run films, events at the community-centered theater have included the Hamptons Synagogue Film Festival, the popular $5 Tuesday movie night, art shows, school programs, private birthday parties and more.

According to Garden City-based attorney Sabow, operator Peter Vivian had leased the space to run the theater in past years.

"Unfortunately, due to COVID, he decided he did not want to operate the theater anymore," Sabow said.

During the pandemic, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that movie theaters could reopen on Long Island at 25 percent capacity, with social distancing and other guidelines, such as purification and air filtration systems.

With the coronavirus, Sabow in 2020 that the theater was not active, with no operator — and he did not foresee anyone coming to resume operations.

The theater meant much to many in the Westhampton Beach community, who had held onto hope that the theater may one day open again.

Laurie Rubick said she began working at the theater when she was still in high school, in October of 1990. She was there until Vivian decided to end his time with the cinema in August, due to the pandemic. "It's a hard hit industry," she said. "I hope the village will have a theater again."

Added Rubick: "It will always have a piece of my heart."