Activists Hope New Owner Allows Performance Space
Still vacant after showing its last feature film more than four years ago, the historic Ridgewood Theater is reportedly about to change ownership once again.
The Times Newsweekly learned that the current owners-identified in public records as the 55-27 Myrtle Ave. Realty Corp. (the name reflects the theater’s address)-are in negotiations with an unidentified entity to sell the former moviehouse for a price tag believed to be about $7 million.
Ted Renz, executive director of the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District, told this paper on Tuesday, May 14, he has heard rumors that the new owner is interested in a mixed-use development of the site, with retail on the ground floor and housing on the upper entities.
Renz noted the zoning of the theater is such that up to three more floors could be erected in the rear of the Ridgewood Theater located adjacent to Cypress Avenue.
The new owner, however, would be prohibited from touching the façade and marquee of the Ridgewood Theater, which was declared a landmark by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2010.
The Times Newsweekly attempted to contact the broker handling the sale of the Ridgewood Theater, but as of press time, our calls were not returned.
With the former moviehouse’s sale apparently imminent, a group of local residents-seeking in using at least part of the theater as a performance space-are hoping to establish a working relationship with the new owner.
Mercy Wong and Bridgette Vidunas launched “We Love Ridgewood Theater,” an Internet-based campaign aimed at drumming up support from the public, elected officials and cultural institutions to arrange for part of the theater-the majority of which is in disrepair-to be restored into a venue for concerts and other events.
“To let it go into total disrepair and not have it honored with arts and entertainment would be a loss for the community,” said Vidunas, who joinedWong in a conference call with the Times Newsweekly on Monday, May 13. Vidunas stated the performance space “would bring economic activity for the community” and attract new residents and visitors to the neighborhood.
“We really envision this as a private public partnership,” Wong added. “What we’re trying to inject is community and local involvement. We’re also trying to identify public funding in order to form a public-private partnership” to renovate and operate the Ridgewood Theater.
To that end, Wong noted, she has contacted the Queens Council on the Arts to engage their interest in the idea. Vidunas added that she also contacted the Queens Symphony Orchestra about the possibility of using a performance space in the Ridgewood Theater as a permanent home.
Noting that many of their neighbors have fond memories of past visits to the Ridgewood Theater, Wong and Vidunas stated the “We Love Ridgewood Theater” campaign would aim to galvanize the public’s sentiment for the moviehouse into action that would bring entertainment back to the venue in some form.
Wong stated the group would soon launch a “stories and memories project” which would gather oral history from residents about their experiences at the theater. Wong and Vidunas will also have an information table at the Ridgewood Market this Sunday, May 19, at Gottscheer Hall, located on Fairview Avenue.
“In my encounters with the public, everyone’s in support” of bringing a performance space to the theater, Vidunas stated. “Everybody misses having something there to go to.”
“It’s really about the street and the place. This is one building and there are a lot of memories,” added Wong. “It really made the street and the down town. It’s the start of the whole revitalization of the Myrtle Avenue area.”
The “We Love Ridgewood Theater” campaign can be found online at www.weloveridgewoodtheater.org.
