After renting the building at 2 East Main Street for years, the Smithtown Performing Arts Council (PAC) was able to purchase the Smithtown theater this May and now the nonprofit is looking to raise the money for an interior and exterior renovation.
A GoFundMe page for the effort was set up and currently there is almost $16,000 pledged at the time of the writing of this story toward a goal of raising $500,000.
“I can not express just how vital the Theatre is to the business district's successful revitalization transformation,” said Smithtown Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim in a statement. Wehrheim put his faith in the PAC to complete the restoration of what he called “the anchor of Main Street in Smithtown.”
The Smithtown PAC recently unveiled its plans to restore the theater.
According to a statement released by the Town, the Main Street theater has been “a driving economic force for the community since its inception as a single screen theater in 1932.”
Opened 90-years-ago as a 500 seat moviehouse, the theater had been the center of entertainment on Main Street in Smithtown. At one point it showed second-run movies for two bucks a pop. Then, with competition from multiplexes and a sprawling suburban expansion, the theater lost its luster. It was converted to produce live performances in the early Aughts.
The building was listed for sale in mid August of 2021. At the time, the Smithtown PAC scrambled to purchase the building where it had been staging performances since 2002. This May, Smithtown PAC was able to successfully close on the historic theater.
According to a story on the WSHU website, the theater was purchased by the Smithtown PAC for $1.45 million. Also announced, was a $40,000 grant to improve the facade of the building from Smithtown Town.
Upcoming shows at the theater include a summer comedy series and a performance of the off-Broadway musical, “I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.”