CAPE MAY- The Beach Theatre, the city’s last remaining movie theater is scheduled for demolition the first week of November.
An undercover reporter for the Herald spoke on site with Ed O’Brien, Development/Construction Manager for the Frank Companies, owners of the Beach Theater, questioning if the seats from the theater were for sale.
He told the Herald the theater would be demolished the week of Nov. 1 and the seats and other equipment would be offered for sale. O’Brien and a crew from a mold removal service were working on the theater Sept. 24.
According the Cape May Construction Office, the Frank Companies have a demolition certificate from the city’s Historic Preservation Commission and need only to notify the city that utilities have been disconnected from the theater to begin demolition.
In Sept. 2007, Cape May City Council presented the Beach Theatre Foundation with a check for $100,000. The loan was to allow the foundation operate the theater for 12 months and find a developer to purchase and renovate the building which could cost between $12 million and $18 million.
In Nov. 2007, the non- profit Beach Theatre Foundation reopened the theater under a management agreement. The group spent six weeks cleaning and refurbishing the theater
The foundation had hoped to find an investor to develop the property while preserving the theater.
The Beach Theatre Foundation’s 18-month lease ended March 31 of this year but, the foundation continued to search for a developer. The Frank Companies reopened the theater May 22 but closed it after Labor Day.
The Frank Companies hold a demolition permit for the theater portion of the complex and received preliminary site plan approval from Cape May’s Planning Board to build six, three-bedroom condominiums above nine existing retail stores fronting on Beach Avenue. The theater’s front façade and retail stores would remain.
The Beach Theatre Foundation hired a consulting firm in the hospitality field to take look at a market study to see if a “boutique hotel” would be an option to save the building and theatre auditorium.
The foundation opted not to renew its lease of the theater because it was losing too much money even though it sold more tickets in 2008 than the Frank Companies sold the previous year.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
