New Westmont article in The Retrospect

In this week’s edition of The Retrospect, there’s a story on the front page that talks about the recent work on the marquee and sidewalks, as well as a possible future path for theatre restoration. To read the article click on the image below.

Next NCW Meeting

The next NCW meeting will be held on Thursday October 22nd at the Rohrer Library. The meeting is at 7pm and the main agenda item is formation of the Friends of the Westmont Theatre (FOTW), a non-profit group that will be the financial arm for the theatre’s potential restoration and, if restored, responsible for the day-to-day operations and programming for the theatre.

Anyone with an interest in joining either group is encourage to come out on the 22nd to learn more…

Day three of the Westmont Marquee

On Friday the construction company removed the roof top on the marquee. Now you can look straight up and see the 2n story windows. More info and photos to follow…

Marquee without the roof

2nd story windows seen through the marquee

Is this the start of something big?

So today Haddon Township started work on the marquee. They’re goal is to remove all the damaged pieces so that the fence can be removed from the sidewalk. As we’ve noted in our two recent posts… a lot of positive steps are coming into play for the theatre and this is one of those steps. Below are some picture that were taken throughout today.

Westmont Theatre Marquee with damaged ceiling

Construction crew removing damaged pieces

Marquee without metal ceiling

NCW proceeding with non-profit group

The second meeting with the Mayor went well. Several positive steps are in motion now and one of them is that the NCW (Neighbors Celebrating the Westmont) is moving forward with the formation of the non-profit group called The Friends of the Westmont Theatre (FOTW). This new group will be the financial arm for the restoration of the theatre, and once restored, the group responsible for its day-to-day operations and programming. The NCW will remain as the main advocacy group for its preservation and restoration. If anyone has an interest in joining either the NCW or TFOW, please send us an email.

Much more information to follow in the coming weeks… Stay tuned!

Follow up meeting with Mayor

The meeting with the Mayor went well last Thursday. Topics that were discussed included restoration costs and parking. The follow up meeting scheduled for this week is to further discuss cost restoration, parking and theatre operation (day-to-day), and to create an action plan.

More info to follow…

Meeting with the Mayor

The NCW meeting last Wednesday went very well. The group met with Paul Lazar from the Gibraltar Construction Corporation. Mr. Lazar presented a cost estimate report that explained what needs to be repaied or replaced in order to restore the Westmont Theatre as a film and performing arts venue.

Tomorrow (Thursday Sept. 17th) seven members from the NCW are meeting with Mayor Teague to discuss the cost estimate. The outcome of that meeting will help to gauge if this restoration process can proceed and if the FOWT (Friends of the Westmont Theatre – an offshot of the NCW) group will form as a non-profit group to support the theatre.

Stay tuned… more “coming attractions” to follow shortly…

September NCW meeting

The next meeting for the NCW  is Wednesday September 9th at 7pm in the Rohrer Library. This meeting is to discuss the restoration cost estimates, status update on the non-profit formation, etc…  As always we strongly encourage anyone with an interest in the Westmont (or the NCW) to stop out on Wednesday to meet the group.

End of summer…

As the summer season draws to a close the Westmont Theatre continues to stand tried and true on Haddon Ave. Although the last few weeks have been rather quiet, the NCW has been moving forward with the early phases of developing a non-profit group.  The next meeting is scheduled for early September. Once the date/time is set we’ll post that info here.

We encourage anyone with an interest in the Westmont (or the NCW) to consider attending the September meeting.

Teaser trailer for new Westmont film

Since the premiere of The Grand Old Lady in May 2007, filmmaker Brent J. Donaway has continued to follow and film the status of the theatre and those who work to see it preserved/restored as a film and performing arts venue. Below is a teaser trailer for his new film, which is slated to be released in 2010.

done