Arts group plans to restore landmark Binghamton theater

The Press & Sun-Bulletin reported on new plans for the Strand Theater on Chenango Street.

The lights went out, and the long run ended, in the late 1970s when the theater went out of business.

Now, a local nonprofit arts group has plans to reopen and restore the building as a multi-screen theater and community arts center.

The Art Mission and Theater has applied for a $160,000 Environmental Protection Fund Grant from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to buy the 27 Chenango St. building from its current owner, Riviera Theater Inc.

The acquisition would be the first step toward moving the theater and art gallery from its current location at 61 Prospect Ave. to the old Strand Theater location, which has been vacant for about four years since the closing of the Parlor City Café, said Matthew Thorn, executive director of the Art Mission and Theater.

"We want to expand and offer more programs. Our goal is to turn the building into a cultural center," Thorn said.

The Art Mission and Theater opened at 61 Prospect Ave. in 2007 to show first-run independent and foreign films that generally don't show up at the Regal Cinemas and Town Square Mall multiplexes. Read more here.