Roosevelt Field AMC Loews closed until November for renovations

Long Island moviegoers will have one less venue in which to see this summer's likely blockbusters as the AMC Loews Roosevelt Field 8 theater in Garden City undergoes a multimillion-dollar renovation.

The eight-screen theater, which closed its doors in late February, plans to reopen in November, according to a voice message on the theater's phone line.

Planned improvements to the roughly 42,000-square-foot Roosevelt Field theater, one of AMC's six Long Island locations, include the replacement of seats with new plush, power recliners, additions to the concession area and updates to sound systems.

"It's something we've been doing across the country for the last few years," AMC spokesman Ryan Noonan said. At the end of 2014, AMC Theatres, which has about 340 movie houses throughout the United States, said that 53 of its locations had undergone "recliner renovations."

Theater managers, supervisors and able staffers at the Garden City theater have been relocated to surrounding AMC locations until the renovation's completion.

The exact number of affected employees was not known, Noonan said. AMC didn't disclose the renovation cost.

The timing of the nearly 10-month closure means the theater will miss a slew of expected big movies, including Marvel's May 1 release of "Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World" on June 12, and the July 1 release of "Terminator Genisys."

"Obviously it's going to be a big year, but ultimately we want to elevate this moviegoing experience as early as possible," Noonan said.

The AMC top-to-bottom improvements coincide with the $200-million face-lift and expansion of the Roosevelt Field mall, which in January completed the construction of its 50,000-square-foot Dining District.

The mall's owner, Simon Property Group, plans to complete all improvements and additions by February 2016.

As with the other retail tenants, the theater improvements will help the mall "compete for consumers' leisure time," said Tom Schneider, executive vice president of development for Simon, which is not directly overseeing AMC's renovation.