Westhampton Performing Arts Center May Seek CPF Funds After Facade Is Landmarked

The 2018 designation of the Sag Harbor Cinema’s façade as a local historic landmark set a precedent that another venue would like to now repeat.

The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center is in the midst of a historic-designation application of its own that would allow it to access Community Preservation Fund money from the Town of Southampton.

As was the case in Sag Harbor — where the nonprofit cinema ultimately nabbed $4 million in CPF funds — the fulcrum point in Westhampton Beach is the large overhanging façade that dominates the frontage of the Main Street theater, with its bright red neon signage contrasting against the gleaming white facade.

Earlier in August, Village of Westhampton Beach Mayor Maria Moore and the Town of Southampton signed an inter-municipal agreement that pushed the PAC’s plans forward to, they hope, a similar outcome as met the Sag Harbor movie theater.

“The PAC wanted the town to landmark the façade of their building as a way for them to be eligible for CPF funding, and asked the village if we would allow that to happen,” Moore explained in an email. “The board wanted to support the PAC,” so respective attorneys from the village and town hammered out the agreement.

The theater opened in 1933 — former New York Governor Alfred E. Smith was on hand for what was then called Prudential’s Westhampton Theatre, according to the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center’s website. The building was later bought by United Artists, but by the 1990s and the rise of Blockbuster and the multiplex phenomenon, the 425-seat single-screen movie theater wasn’t a viable business model, and the building was set for demolition.

Enter investor Len Conway and retailer Lon Sabella, who organized the purchase of the building for $300,000 in 1997 and commenced to raise about $1.6 million to complete extensive renovations, which included retaining sconces and chandeliers and other features that had been a part of the theater when it was constructed.

The theater reopened as the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on July 4, 1998, and had paid down nearly $1.8 million in renovation loans by 2005.

Over a 25-year history, it has offered a steady supply of international films, special events and live performances from the likes of Russia-born singer Regina Spektor, Savage Pianos and comedian-crank Lewis Black.

It’s too early in the process to scope out the amount of any potential CPF monies that may be in the offing.

“At the last Town of Southampton Landmarks and Historic Districts Board meeting on August 15, the board made the official recommendation for Town of Southampton Landmark status,” said the center’s executive director, Julienne Penza-Boone. “This comes after an inter-municipal agreement between the Village of Westhampton Beach and the Town of Southampton. As far as CPF, yes, we are pursuing funding, but that is in the early stages, as the landmarking is a prerequisite.”

The theater’s efforts to attain a historic facade easement “is currently being appraised by the Town’s CPF Department,” said CPF administrator Jacqueline Fenlon. “We have been working with the Village of Westhampton Beach to formalize an inter-municipal agreement to achieve this possibility. We have also received comments and support from the Town’s Landmarks and Historic District’s Board who have offered comments on the request and structure of the joint enforcement.”

That enforcement, said Fenlon, would be “between the Village of Westhampton Beach and the Town, to ensure compliance with the Historic Façade Easement.” The town would hold the easement, she said, “but we don’t have authority to enforce Westhampton Beach’s standard building and zoning ordinances in the village, so that needs to be well thought out and coordinated.”

Any CPF monies would represent a welcome injection of historical-preservation funds at the Depression-era theater that has to rely heavily on fundraising just to stay open: “In order to stay in business,” the theater’s website notes, “the center must raise more than half its budget each year since ticket sales only cover half of the costs of running the theater.”

On that note, the theater is also pursuing an $18,700 grant from available CPF monies dedicated to wastewater treatment projects. During a review of grant proposals at the Southampton Town Board meeting this week, Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said the grant request would likely pay to connect the theater to new sewage capacity in Westhampton Beach and that the request “makes sense — that’s why they built a sewer district in Westhampton.”

“The theater is heavily used,” he said, with “lots of people using the facility there.”