Smithtown arts council buys historic downtown theater for $1.45M
The Smithtown Center Performing Arts Council has purchased the historic downtown theater for $1.45 million, officials announced Wednesday.
Credit: Barry Sloan
Smithtown’s historic downtown theater at 2 East Main St. has sold for $1.45 million following a dispute over $90,000 in rent payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The buyer: the nonprofit Smithtown Performing Arts Council, which last year as a tenant of its former executive director, Kenneth Washington, disputed the amount he demanded in back rent.
Washington, whose limited liability company had owned the theater, put the property up for sale for $1.6 million, Newsday reported last year.
The deal announced Wednesday puts the property under the control of the council, which runs programming at the theater.
Washington was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.
The theater opened in the early 1930s, and the council hopes to restore the space.
“At this point, much of what exists here hasn’t been touched since the ’70s — if at all,” said board president Mike Mucciolo. He added: “It’s gonna take a lot of work, but it is worth saving. It has features that are one-of-a-kind.”
Mucciolo cited features from the same interior designers as the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center.
The theater, which has reopened after closing early in the pandemic, hopes to continue to be an anchor for Smithtown and neighboring communities, drawing customers for neighboring businesses of people who might, say, grab dinner during an outing to see a performance.
Washington had said last year that he was owed more than $90,000 in back rent from the council for using the theater for the prior 10 months. Mucciolo and the board vice president Keith Blum disputed that, saying that Washington had agreed to a rent reduction during the pandemic,
The total cost of the restoration is expected to be about $500,000, and grants, fundraising, and donations are being pursued, the town said.
Details about the purchase were provided by the press office of Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim.
The office said that the first priority and the first year of capital improvements will be devoted to restoring the exterior and facade — the siding, masonry, signage, lighting, stained glass and landscape.
The purchase price settles all claims, including the issue of back rent with Washington, according to Mucciolo.
“We had no further claims. He had no further claims. This is the price. That’s it,” Mucciolo said.
Last year, Washington told Newsday: “I'm selling the building because I'm 66 years old and I want to liquidate my assets so I can move on to the next chapter in my life.”
With Barry Sloan
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
