Letters

One of the great things about Hampton Bays is that we have a movie theater. The ones in Southampton and Westhampton Beach have been closed for a while. Even Riverhead doesn’t have a movie theater.

If the Town of Southampton wants to bring more people to Hampton Bays, they need to keep the Regal movie theater here. We don’t need a CVS — we need a place that offers enjoyment to families, teenagers and adults.

I’m tired of hearing people talk about upgrading Hampton Bays and at the same time planning to have the theater demolished and replaced by a drug store. On so many levels, this is not right. We have a comfortable theater that shows many movies in English and even in Spanish. OK, no reclining seats, but it’s comfortable, clean and in a great location.

Luckily for Hampton Bays, the theater doesn’t open until late afternoon on most days. This would not be the case with a CVS. The increase in traffic morning, noon and night at an already busy intersection would be hard to deal with and potentially dangerous.

Many years ago, there were talks about creating a theater district in Hampton Bays, and today there are people in Hampton Bays who would like to see a performing arts space here. Such an addition would be very expensive and take years to complete.

We need a movie theater, and it’s already here. Regal has five screens showing a variety of films. They have $5 mystery movie nights about once a month. On Tuesdays, their movies are only $7, and there are often many teenagers there. Why would we want to take away one of the few inexpensive activities for teens to do during the week?

I support our theater and hope it’s still possible to prevent it being taken away. If it closes, the nearest movie theater would be in Sag Harbor, and the nearest place to see operas in HD would be in East Hampton.

Dolores Reilly

Hampton Bays