Today's news that the old Loew's King Theater in central Brooklyn will be restored for $70 million with direct help from the government really had us wondering what's wrong with Harlem's preservation efforts? We pose this question for the much loved Victoria Theater on 125th Street has not had such luck. The two theaters have almost identical history and both went into disrepair about the same time. Ironically, the more obscure of the two will be restored much sooner because of just that. Since the Victoria is on 125th Street and there was much to speculate on developing this major commercial strip at the height of the market, the old condo game came into play. Saving the building and its heritage played second seat to which deal was bigger and better which caused major internal disputes. Somehow Ethel Bates of the failed Corn Exchange Building is involved with the Victoria and politics got in the way of anything resembling the original intent to save the building.
The Loew's Kings Theater, on the other hand is further out in Brooklyn and within an area that many developers are not interested in. With that said, the community at large and the government came up with a $70 million restoration plan which included the government footing $50 million of the cost (including tax breaks). Then, a developer was chosen who had the cash to place a down payment for the rest of the project. This seems to be the right model if the government wants community buildings to be restored. Handing over property to unqualified local groups that don't have the cash or the resources to start a restoration project seems to be counter productive. The Victoria Theater, PS 186 and the Corn Exchange Building are some prime examples of how not to get a building restored for community use.
The second photo of Loew's Theater is from today's New York Times and shows a space in much worse condition than the Victoria. The Brooklyn space will be turned into a performance center for the community and maybe if folks in Harlem just focus on that very simple end use, things would get done a lot more quickly. Does anyone have any updates on the Victoria?
We need a decent music venue for bands to play that isn't the Apollo. This would be perfect. And of course, lets no forget the Renaissance Ballroom which is falling into disrepair as well.
ReplyDeleteCity needs to take these properties from these entitities and give them to developers to save.
Yes, eminent domain put to proper use.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of these properties are owned by churches and their "development companies", unless there's a big change, these Churches will continue to hold on to these properties (not paying property tax, of course).
ReplyDelete