Long Beach Cinemas may reopen in spring

Landlord says new seating and upgrades are in the works

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The Long Beach Cinemas, closed since Hurricane Sandy, is getting a makeover — at least inside — as the owners of the shuttered theater install new, roomier seats as well as new screens and make other upgrades.

Sandy destroyed its movie screens and 550 seats, and the theater was completely gutted after the storm. But it is still undergoing renovations due to a number of delays, mainly because of what the owner described as a slow reimbursement process.

Last spring, the theater posted a sign on its marquee that read, “Look 4 grand re-opening,” and Seth Pilevsky, co-president of Manhattan-based Philips International — the company that bought the property in 2000 and built the theater that’s now there — said that while a summer reopening was possible, it was not definite.

Now, Pilevsky said that he is hopeful the theater will reopen in time for next summer, possibly by the spring.

Pilevsky said that an architect was hired last week to create design plans for the interior of the theater, mainly to install new leather seats that recline slightly, part of an attempt to stay competitive with larger, more modern theaters.

“Hiring an architect was a big deal, and now we’re moving forward with the work,” Pilevsky said. “We found some good quality seats — we don’t want to lose that many seats — so we just hired an architect to do a seating chart. The screens were destroyed, so we’re going to replace the screens as well, and there’ll also be new concessions and a reservation program.”

The theater, which has four screens, is on the former site of the Lido Theater, which was built in the early 1920s. The current theater underwent a major renovation in 2011 that included a new 3-D screen and other improvements.

Pilevsky said that the theater would continue to show a mix of mainstream and family-friendly movies, and possibly independent films.

“We are shooting for the spring, but it’s hard to tell with the lead-time for specialty items and these specialty seats,” Pilevsky added. “There will be less seating, though the seats will be bigger and more comfortable. We have to work on the seating plan and it’s a process — you bring an architect on board and it takes time.”

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