Nitehawk Cinema to Take Over Pavilion Theater

PARK SLOPE, NY — Nitehawk Cinemas is bringing a little bit of hipster Williamsburg to Park Slope.

The trendy movie house is set to take over The Pavilion Theater in 2017. The location will be the second for Nitehawk, which opened its original location in Williamsburg in 2011, and will not involve the condos planned for the site last year.

Nitehawk Cinema styles itself as New York's "premier dine-in theater" complete with table-side food and drink service. They even hold special programming for weekend brunch showings. The Nitehawk Prospect Park, as it will be called, will have seven screens, seating for 650 people, two kitchens and two bars, according to the new owners.

The overhaul will begin in October, and the theater will be completely closed for about a year, Nitehawk said. The refurbishment will cost approximately $10 million.

"Park Slope can expect the same dine-in concept as Nitehawk Williamsburg, same vibe and diverse mix of repertory and first-run programming, including more family-friending programming," said Nitehawk founder Matthew Viragh. "The size of the venue will also allow for quality Hollywood blockbuster first-run films as well as independent films. As always, we’ll be very judicious in what we choose."

The Pavilion Theater's future has been the subject of much debate over the past few years. A plan for condos on the property, while preserving the theater, was approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission last October.

Hidrock Properties, which owned 188 Prospect Park West and was looking to convert the location into condos, officially announced the sale in a statement on Wednesday. The owners of Nitehawk Cinema purchased the site last month for $28 million.

"Park Slope is a vibrant and historic neighborhood that we're proud to be a part of," Hidrock CEO Abraham Hidary said in a statement. "Now, with this sale, the movie theater legacy of this site that began in the 1920s will live on."

Hidrock still owns 192 Prospect Park West, a one-story brick building pinned between the theater and 15th Street-Prospect Park subway station, which would've been demolished for the new condo development. Hidrock said in a statement they had "no immediate plans" for the property.

The Pavilion was opened in 1928, closed in 1978, only to re-open in 1996, and seemingly be the subject of constant renovations ever since. The internet has not been kind to the theater, with a recent Yelp review summing it up as "a mess. Seats had chunks missing, gum all over the place and random, drooping promotional crap strewn all over the lobby."

Photo Credit: John Santore/Patch