Wondering About the Loew's Wonder Theater
Almost exactly a year ago, the Economic Development Corporation put out a request for proposals for the redevelopment of the gargantuan, dilapidated Loew’s Kings theater in Flatbush. Since then, though, there’s been little news about plans for the property. The former “wonder theater” has been the subject of a number of failed revitalization schemes since…
Almost exactly a year ago, the Economic Development Corporation put out a request for proposals for the redevelopment of the gargantuan, dilapidated Loew’s Kings theater in Flatbush. Since then, though, there’s been little news about plans for the property. The former “wonder theater” has been the subject of a number of failed revitalization schemes since it closed in 1977 (in 1999, for example, Magic Johnson signed up to turn it into a modern multiplex). In March, the EDC told the Times they’d received multiple bids for the theater and that the agency would try to move beyond the initial stage of the project sometime this spring (which, obviously, didn’t happen). We called the EDC a couple of times to ask about where the project stood but haven’t heard back. Any intel out there about what is—or isn’t—cooking?
A Chance to Bring Back an Old Brooklyn Gem [Brownstoner] GMAP
Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn; The Kings Is Dead! Long Live the Kings! [NY Times]
I won’t say the diversity & the racial factors make it ghetto…I’d say it’s the frequent drug dealings and occasional gunshots that make it so. I’ve lived in Flatbush for over 15 years and it doesn’t bother me, but to many friends who come to visit it’s a real issue. And it wouldn’t matter who I were living amongst. Hearing helicopter searches above the apartment building doesn’t exactly make it Pleasantville but thats the way I live and I’m fine with it.
To some people, any non white community is “ghetto”. Some people just can’t comprehend that all black and Latino people are anything but dirt poor, or are the creme de la creme who are stinking rich, who wouldn’t be in the community anyway. Newsflash – most people are middle class.
Whatever comes into this space must preserve and restore all of that incredible detail. I don’t see Target or any chain doing that, it’s not their corporate thing. The best use for this is as a theatre and/or conference/community/museum space. Maybe it is a good thing to keep it locked tight until the right people come along. If funds could be procured to keep any other deterioration from happening, that may be the best use for it now. Not forever, just now.
Right down the street is Erasmus HS, where many famous NYers graduated, including fabulously wealthy people like Barbra Streisand, among others. Maybe they could be persuaded to kick in some big bucks and do something to save and make use of this gem. It definitely shouldn’t be left to rot and fall in on itself.
how bout an american apparel?
why do people think Connecticut, Long Island, etc is ANYTHING like the yuppie neighborhoods we like/want in brooklyn?? (hey i’ll admit i’m a yuppie and have certain tastes)
have u ever been out there? car-centric strip mall crap..
im so tired of hearing “if u dont like discount chain stores targetting poor people, then go to the suburbs!”
black, white….meet grey
No to retail…it would be a tragedy to see the details inside gone.
Good response, 11:41.
SOME people call anyplace without trendy baby boutiques selling $100 onesies, “ghetto”. Of course 5 years ago those people would have been moving to Connecticut, not Brooklyn. This ain’t the suburbs, people. Get over it. There’s going to be this thing called diversity here. Both racial and (the horror) economic diversity.
they should renovate this space and make it another success like Atlantic Terminal.
Target, Daffy’s etc would be a great fit
I don’t think this is a ghetto, but I can see why many, maybe even most, Americans would think so. It is a community of color, mostly immigrant, hard working but not terribly affluent. It is a far cry form the gentrified blocks of Fort greene or the hip regions of Williamsburg or DUMBO. There is still, even today, a great deal of diversity in brownstone Brooklyn. I for one think it is a good thing. And no, this would not be a great location for an artsy theater or cinema.
If they ripped off that ugly marquee, it would give great visibility for a Commerce Bank on the ground floor. I think a big box retailer like Target or Wal-Mart would fill out the rear ground floor and mezzanine nicely, and an 8-story glass addition replacing the rest of that crap on the upper levels would do nicely as luxury condos.