South Bay Cinemas
495 Montauk Highway,
West Babylon,
NY
11704
495 Montauk Highway,
West Babylon,
NY
11704
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 157 comments
I am now wondering what the longest “renovation” of a theater has been and whether this would be the winner of that distinction.
They closed in 2016 for a renovation to be completed in 2017 and now they are going to open in the Spring of 2022. Time will tell on that. Because of the length of time closed, Covid and the popularity of streaming what are the odds that this is going to be viable?
Since this is a leased property curious to know when the current lease is up.
From the theatre owners as of today post on Facebook: Hi Folks Just to let all of you know, work is still coming along. The seats have arrived! We are still targeting a late Spring opening in time for the summer releases. To those of you that have been asking questions to us in our mailbox…. Here are some common answers… 1) We will announce about 4-6 weeks before opening when we are looking to interview for staffing 2) There will be online ticket sales 3) There will be birthday party & theater rentals available but we cannot book anything right now till we have a locked in date. As soon as we have more information, we will pass it along… See you soon.
Can we call this a Christmas miricle
From the South Bay Cinemas facebook page @robboehm Hi Everyone. It has been a long time since you have seen a post from this page. The short of the story is that the principal partner of the company passed away in 2020 after a long battle with cancer and it set the project back greatly. Many of you have started seeing construction going on again. I can confirm now that we have re-grouped and are moving along. The hope is to be ready before Easter. It will still be 5 screens with all luxury recliner seating. As a matter of fact, the seats were purchased today. The interior will be all-new. The plan is to have some food items as well as beer and wine and an all-new party rental program. And no, we will not nearly as expensive as Farmingdale or Deer Park. We don’t have anything else right now to share but again, if everything moves along, we shall see you by Easter. – The South Bay Cinemas Team
They finally boarded up the broken windows! But they also boarded up the entrance lobby?????? In addition to the machine and the porta potty I mentioned previously there is also a back hoe within the fenced area.
They gave it a fresh coat of paint and refurbished the marquee and the signage so it looks far better. They also installed new heating/AC units on the roof of the five auditoriums. There has been sporadic work on the interior over the years. What’s such a big deal about replacing broken windows? The building is behind a high chain link fence.
The town should give them a date, finish or demolish the eyesore.
Windows are still broken. Appears to be a work light inside. There are several sheet rock panels leaning against the entrance windows. There is also some sort of machine and a porta potty inside the fenced in area.
Please update, became a Triplex on May 21, 1975, quad on November 30, 1990 and five on November 15, 1991
Belated July 4th report. No change from June 20th. Next report mid-August.
Windows still broken. However, the recessed lights on the marquee were lit today and a few floodlights have been installed at the roof line since I was last there. Next report July 4th.
Reopen at Trio on May 21, 1975 another ad posted
What are the chances of this opening post Covid when they couldn’t open before. I’ll drive by in a couple of weeks to see if anything has changed in the past 6 months. Same broken windows? Same dumpster?
Reopened as South Bay Trio on May 23rd, 1975. Another ad posted.
Dumpster and backhoe gone. Windows still broken. Such progress.
The South Bay theatre opened on June 28th, 1967 with “El Dorado”. Grand opening ad posted.
David, the only thing the South Bay has in it’s favor is parking. And that usage is questionable since they only, legitimately, have a small area around the building. The area used to have the Lindenhurst, Babylon, North Babylon theaters but somehow in it’s dilapidated condition the South Bay soldiered on. The pandemic will be the end of many theaters because of fear and social distancing. So many theaters have just about destroyed their viability when they severely reduced the seating capacity with the installation of recliners. So in an auditorium under 100 seats, which seems to be the case, more often than not, social distancing and reduced capacity percentages spells doom.
robboehm, yeah I’m not saying the South Bay was impressive, just it was the first cinema I was ever at. : ) When I was last there in the summer of 2000 with my late mother to see “Bring It On”, it did seem somewhat rundown. …. Wow, I just realized my mother, the person I went there with the final time, was the person I was there with the first time. (All my visits in between were without her.) As we approached the entrance I may have said something like “You brought me here in 1974”…..
I just found out by perusing Cinema Treasures listings that the Islip Theater, which had closed after I last visited it in 2000 to see “The Perfect Storm” or “X-Men”, has since reopened as the Islip Cinemas, so one of the cinemas I recall attending is still a movie theater. Other than that I get the impression there are currently no operating movie theaters that close to the Babylon/West Islip/Bay Shore area, while in my time there were several choices.
David, you’ll have to wait a couple of months for my next comment but, the way things have not been going, will probably be more of same.
I was only in the theater once with friends to see Sister Act. I remember not being impressed with the theater which was probably a triplex by that time.
robboehm — I’d like to use this, my 300th comment on Cinema Treasures, to thank you for keeping track of the first movie theater I ever attended back in 1974, the South Bay Cinemas. (See my comment posted on January 17th, 2016.)
Interesting that although all of the cinemas I recall visiting on Long Island from then through 2000 are gone, the one that still might reopen and carry on as a movie theater is the first one I ever went to.
Still broken windows and ragged curtains. BobCat doesn’t seem to have moved. The only change I see is the addition of a Portapotty.
Same broken windows and faded ragged curtains. Only difference from my March visit was the presence of a small BobCat inside the fencing near the old box office. They’re still in a demolition phase? I thought when they patched up the cracks in the facade, painted it, reinstalled the South Bay signage, upgraded the pylon to include a web site and phone number and installed five new ceiling units (the initial reno called for two additional auditoriums to the three in place)that the “end” was near. The reality may be that the lack of progress to date and whatever comes of the entertainment industry after Corona may mean the end, period.
Had it not been for a single worker that I observed entering the building with a small wheelbarrow I would say that nothing has been done since I went by in January. Same cracked windows. Same faded ragged curtains. What he was doing is anyone’s guess.
It must be opening soon, the theatre been on the fandango app for a few weeks now