Newburgh’s last movie theater has closed. Town of Newburgh residents who want to go out to a first-run blockbuster movie now will have to travel to theaters in Beacon, Fishkill, New Paltz or Monroe for the cinema experience. The last picture shows at the Showtime Cinemas multiplex at 1420 Route 300 run by local operator Christopher Bistor took place on Sept. 15. The property in the Town of Newburgh is going to be converted into a self-storage facility.
The 10-screen Showtime Cinemas had been operating on a month-to-month lease for some time as various plans to put the property to another use surfaced but never came to fruition. The movie theater opened in 1987 as Newburgh Cinemas, then was taken over by other operators and eventually became Showtime. In a message to patrons announcing the upcoming closing of the multiplex, Showtime said that they would be operating only on weekends as the Sept. 15 closing neared.
The entity known as Newburgh Self Storage has received approvals for its plans to convert the existing movie theater building to accommodate self-storage and also build a series of smaller self-storage buildings on the property.
Connor McCormack, an engineer with Colliers Engineering & Design, represented the project before the Town of Newburgh Planning Board.
“As part of the proposed development, we’re looking to reuse the existing Showtime Cinema building, add additional storage units throughout the site,” McCormack said. “We’re also pulling up a lot of existing pavement to make the site greener. In total there’s going to be 61,310 square feet of storage. The redeveloped parcel will be 63,400 square feet. There’s also a small 774 square foot office space. There will be general landscaping and beautification of the site.”
Vehicular traffic attracted to the site by the self-storage facility was expected to be dramatically below the level of traffic for movie theaters.
The Planning Board found that the project would not have adverse environmental impacts.
