Preservationists fear for future of Franklin Square Movie Theater

The marquee of the Franklin Square Movie Theater still bears the pandemic-era message, "Closed for now. Be safe."

The red brick Art Deco theater has been a staple of Franklin Square since 1933. Over the years the theater's name has changed. It was once the Franklin Theater, and more recently, Franklin Square Cinemas. Historic photographs show its square marquee was formerly round. In 2019, the town awarded the theater landmark status.

The crimson paint is peeling off. An "Under New Management" sign is tattered. 

Now, preservationists are worried that the closed theater on Hempstead Turnpike is in danger of irreversible decay.

In June, members of the historical society asked the town board to seek state grant money to revitalize Franklin Square, including the theater. The Town of Hempstead issued a notice of violation on the property for a leaking roof in June, town spokesman Brian Devine said. The property is owned by a company controlled by Nauman Hussain, records show. Hussain did not respond to requests for comment. 

Nancy Youngfert, president of the Franklin Square Historical Society, said the theater is the "linchpin and cornerstone and anchor" of Franklin Square, a community that is often thought of as "a pass-through on the way to someplace else." 

"The theater played a very important part in our history," Youngfert said. "We don't have anything here in Franklin Square that draws the local crowd and it could be used for graduation ceremonies, dance studio recitals, open for movies, for speakers. There's a gazillion ways it could be used."

In March, Hussain applied for a permit to demolish the theater's interior, to gut the building by removing all non-load bearing walls, theater seats and fixtures. The town's landmarking statute only applies to the building's exterior.

"No permit has been issued yet," Devine said in an email. "The landmark commission would need to weigh in here, given its designation."

'Demolition by neglect'

Katherine Tarascio, recording secretary for the Franklin Square Civic Association, said the community had hoped someone would lease the building after the theater closed.

"That hasn't happened, and so what's going on now is that the owner is leaving it to basically be destroyed by ‘demolition by neglect,’" Tarascio said.

"Demolition by neglect" occurs when owners are unable or unwilling to take steps to protect historic buildings, said Tara Cubie, preservation director at Preservation Long Island, a Cold Spring Harbor-based nonprofit that advocates for historic sites and collections.

"It's just letting a property fall apart to the point where the expense of returning it to a usable, historic building becomes prohibitive," Cubie said. "Then usually the owner's like, ‘that's too expensive. I can't do this. It's a burden.’ And then it gets torn down or it gets demolished."

At a June town board meeting, Youngfert asked board members to prioritize the theater. "We need to have you come and help us and figure out how to move forward; how to secure those properties that are landmarked." 

After the town board meeting, Youngfert met with Craig Mollo, the Hempstead commissioner of planning and economic development. In a letter to Youngfert, Mollo said the town has a program to cover half the cost of fixes to the property's facade, but the property owner has to cover the balance of the expense.

Devine said in an email Tuesday that "the Town has done everything legally within its power to spur revitalization of the theater." 

'Character' debate

Hussain purchased the property in 2018 a year after buying an adjacent parcel. Then, Franklin Square preservationists sought landmark status for the building.

In written testimony submitted to the Town of Hempstead Landmarks Commission in 2018, Tarascio said the theater should be preserved.

Tarascio outlined several reasons for the distinction: "Not only because of its unique history and how it is reflective of broader themes in the history of theater building and moviegoing as an American pastime, but also because of its architectural merit, the rarity of its genre as a building category, and its prominence and importance to the local Franklin Square community."

Hussain’s attorney, Wayne Edwards of Uniondale-based Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano PLLC, told the commission that subsequent renovations over the decades had destroyed anything worth preserving.

"If it had character, it lost it," Edwards said, according to a transcript of the 2018 hearing.

The commission sided with the preservationists and recommended landmark status. 

Hussain sued the town in state Supreme Court in 2019, seeking to annul the landmark designation. He lost that lawsuit and a subsequent appeal was dismissed last year.