Beacon Cinema Running Ahead of Schedule

By Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
04:16PM / Wednesday, September 16, 2009

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Mayor James Ruberto tries out the seating planned for the new Beacon Cinema. Developer Richard Stanley announced Wednesday the theater will open Nov. 20. See more photos here.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Beacon Cinema will open this November, a month earlier than expected, bringing movies back to the downtown after 15-year absence.

While the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be Nov. 20, the theater will open its doors the evening before with a midnight showing of "New Moon." Based on the massively popular "Twilight" series, this second film in the vampire series will likely guarantee a crowded house.

Its first tenant is the Marketplace Kitchen, which operates a restaurant and catering business in Sheffield.

The $21 million project includes office and retail space and is being made possible by a collaborative effort to provide private and public funding between developer Richard Stanley, local banks, and state and local officials.

Financing has been the toughest to overcome, said Stanley, owner of the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington. He's frequently compared the nearly decadelong project to the "Perils of Pauline" because of its twists and turns, and almost dead-ends.

"Having seen what the Triplex Cinema did for Great Barrington we had a long, long romance for many years before we could get into this project," said Stanley at a press conference hosted by Greylock Federal Downtown Inc.* at the North Street site, where saws and hammers could be heard in the background. "The critical issue of any project is financing ... I can't thank the community enough for having the courage and intuitiveness and long-range vision."

Local officials have been touting the development in the historic Kinnell-Kresge building as integral to the revitalization of city's center. Once the home of several movie houses, the last one was turned into a senior center more than a decade ago. (The Berkshire Museum still shows independent films in its Little Cinema.)

Stanley stands under one of the old skylights in what will be leased as office space.

Mayor James Ruberto said recent revitalization efforts — the restoration of the Colonial theater, the addition to the Berkshire Museum and the relocation of the Barrington Stage — have drawn upwards of 175,000 people to the downtown over the past year.

"Because of the energy and efforts of Richard Stanley, we're going to have that number doubled," he said. "Pittsfield's downtown is open — it's open for fun, it's open for families, it's open for tourists who want to come and enjoy the cultural hub; [this is] the cultural hub and entertainment center of Berkshire County once again."

The mayor and some councilors have come under fire from challengers this election season for the city's use of GE Economic Development Funds and tax incentives to boost downtown projects.

The cinema development is just another example of how important that type of funding can be to reviving the city's core, said Ruberto, lauding the teamwork of "those fine people [city councilors] who voted for funding the Colonial and giving a tax incentive to Spice and those people who truly believed we must help the museum match a Kresge grant."

Both Stanley and Angelo C. Stracuzzi, president of Greylock Federal Credit Union, said the mayor should receive kudos for an enthusiasm that got the project off the ground.

"He's the greatest collaborator I've ever met," said Stracuzzi. "He deserves the credit for this project."

The former Kresge storefront is in the process of becoming a spacious lobby leading into what was the store's warehouse. The 1 1/2-story back section was gutted and rebuilt as two stories with steel beams while maintaining the original brick walls.

In fact, most of the original features of the century-old building are being refurbished and retained since historic credits were part of the financing package. The unique terra-cotta tile front is being cleaned and restored, along with woodwork, tin ceilings and hardwood floors. The large arched windows that look out on North Street are being refurbished off-site and are expected to be re-installed next month.

In contrast, the all-new construction in the cinema portion includes an escalator and elevator and three high-tech theaters on each floor. Two to three of the six will have 3-D screens and Disney's new 3-D "A Christmas Carol" will open along with "New Moon."

The Marketplace has contracted for the first-floor storefront next to the lobby. Stanley said he's had some interest in two top floors but has been waiting for the windows and other work to be completed before showing the space.

And there's still quite a bit of work to do. The front of the building is still wrapped in plastic and scaffolding; the cinemas are still in rough construction and Stanley had to point out where concession stands and seating would go.

Work began last summer and was conservatively estimated to take 14 to 16 months, said Stanley, but contractor Allegrone Construction determined recently that it was shaving off at least a month of construction time from the Dec. 14 opening date.

"A worker told me 'this is going to look just like it was 100-plus years ago,'" said Ruberto. "We're going back to the future. ... we're going back to the future to make Pittsfield the best small city in the Northeast."

*Correction: We incorrectly identified the sponsor of the press conference. It should have been Downtown Inc., which has been instrumental in moving the Beacon Cinema project forward. We apologize for the error.