Port Washington’s Beacon Theater has a rich history of celebrating arts and culture for nearly 100 years. Now 97 years later, new ownership is seeking to relaunch the opulence and history of its golden age origins after its doors were shuttered for years.
“There is a treasure of history hidden behind the movie theater walls,” Leyalanny Mata, the project’s community liaison and Port Washington resident, said.
The Beacon Theater, which opened on Port Washington’s Main Street in 1927, is set to undergo a $15 million renovation. It will be a multi-venue for various parties and its main offering: a dinner theater.
The theater’s dinner shows will be set in a large dining room with tables and seating to offer a rich dining experience. Also featured will be a stage where live music and performances will entertain guests while they dine.
“After COVID, people want to go out again and they want to enjoy, but they’re not bar hopping, they’re not restaurant hopping, they’re not jumping around,” Mata said. “They want to sit and enjoy.”
The dinner theater will be by reservation only, not through ticket sales. Individuals can reserve tables and a certain number of seats.
Other theater features will include a 3D screen with no 3D glasses required, a sushi bar and a tucked-away speakeasy.
The theater has developed and changed over its history, starting as a grand theater where award-winning actors and singers performed on its stage. Later it served as a scrap metal hub for war efforts during World War II and as a multiplex movie theater.
Despite its changes over time, the theater’s original structure still stands. Mata said the preserved historical structure will now come to prominence in its newest iteration to bring back the original grandeur.
Mata said the only reason she joined the project is because of the positivity and revitalization she believes it will bring to her own community.
The Port Washington Chamber of Commerce also expressed hope that it will give Port’s downtown new life.
“The Port Washington Chamber of Commerce is looking forward to working with the new owners of the Beacon Theater,” Chamber Executive Director Bobbie Polay said. “We are pleased that they will not tear down this structure that has been a fixture on Main Street for decades. The proposed new entertainment venue has the potential to bring a much needed boost to our local economy that will benefit other businesses and the community as a whole.”
New building owner Brad Thurman, who is also a Port resident, put together a team with specialized skills like preservation and development, as well as stakeholders, to oversee the renovation. This includes Mata.
Lou Branchinelli, a top event promoter, is the founder and project manager of the Beacon Theater, who brings his Long Island heritage and knowledge from his family business to the table.
The theater’s renovation was under review by the Town of North Hempstead’s Board of Zoning and Appeals to grant the business’s conditional use permit and a variance for adequate parking as the Main Street theater does not have a parking lot for patrons and never has.
Attorney John Anzalone from Harris Beach represented the theater during its BZA hearing, which resulted in the award of both the conditional use permit and variance. He said he was “very happy” with the proceeding, and they are awaiting the official written approval before applying for their building permits.
Once building permits are awarded, then the renovation can commence. Mata said construction would take about nine months, with an opening projected for the beginning of 2026.
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that Brad Thurman is the owner of the Beacon Theater building, and that Lou Branchinelli is the founder of the new Beacon Theater and will be operating the business,
