Greying Scienceites will remember the site of many a BHS graduation,
Loew's Paradise. Here's another Loew's movie theater with twinkling
"stars" on the roof which has gone the way of mankind's works.
http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/331677p-283434c.html
Developer: It's curtains for 1928 movie house
BY JIMMY VIELKIND and JOYCE SHELBY
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
The historic Fortway Theater in Dyker Heights is now a shell of its
former self - literally.
Construction crews began gutting the the building this month.
In June, Loews Cineplex closed the theater, which opened in 1928. Back
then, it had twinkling electric stars in its dark-blue ceiling, a
Kilgen theater organ and a stage.
Neighbors speculated that the building on Fort Hamilton Parkway would
be turned into condos.
"Around here, every empty lot is being built with condos," said Neil
Gargiulo, who lives nearby and works for the U.S. Postal Service.
But Trident Developers of Marine Park said the site will not be used
for housing.
"Absolutely no condos," Bob Geroulanos insisted yesterday after
talking to his son, Spiro, who owns the company and is vacationing in
Greece.
"We don't have a tenant yet," the senior Geroulanos added, "but it
will be developed for a commercial tenant's use."
People living near the Fortway say they'll probably go to another
movie theater, the Alpine, when they want to stay in the neighborhood
to see a flick.
But they'll miss the Fortway, which was turned into a five-screen
multiplex in 1972.
"My kids grew up in that theater. It's a sin that they've closed it
down," said Sarah Massie, 67. "It was a place you could send them and
not have to worry about them."
Brooklyn historian John Manbeck said the borough's big movie houses
have been on the decline since television entered the picture in the
1950s.
"The old theaters were really grandiose," Manbeck said. "When TV
became popular, many of the theaters were divided into multiplexes.
Some succeeded. Others did not."
Today's DVDs may prove the final blow for even more theaters, Manbeck
said.
"If you wait long enough, you can see the movie in your home on DVD -
and some movies are going to DVD without ever being shown in
theaters," Manbeck said. "The big movies open in theaters, but they
don't hang around too long. That's just the way it works now."
Originally published on July 27, 2005
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