Day two of the Westmont Marquee

Day 2 continues with the complete removal of the lower ceiling and a portion of the roof. More will follow….

Westmont Marquee with removed lower ceiling

The marquee opened up

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…

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.

‘Westmont Theatre a Step Closer to State Historic Registry’

Further details on the historic registry process are available in this week’s The Retrospect.

“Famed Hollywood director Stephen Spielberg’s childhood movie house moved a step closer to a listing on state and, potentially, national historic register designation. Haddon Township officials, though, are contemplating fighting the proposed designation…” Read More

Westmont receives historic registry

The Westmont Theatre was approved for the state’s historic registry!!!

More information on this to follow…

Registry Application Meeting is Tomorrow!

The NJ Historic Preservation office, in Trenton, is meeting tomorrow to review the latest series of registry applications, including the one for the Westmont. A handful of NCW members plan to attend to this meeting. Rest assured the minute we hear the committee’s decision we’ll post that information on the site!

‘Twp. Wins Judgment on Westmont Theater’

In this week’s edition of The Retrospect is a more detailed story on the recent court ruling on the Westmont Theatre.  The story also includes updates from two of the three RFP developers who pitched theatre proposals at the June 2008 public meeting: Fieldstone and The Retzler Group.

“The future of the Westmont Theatre appears to be back under control of HaddonTownship leaders. At Tuesday night’s commissioners caucus meeting, Mayor RandyTeague announced… Read More

Please note there are two sentences within The Retzler Group portion of this article that need to be clarified:

“Warshauer added that he had spoken to members of Friends of the Westmont Theatre, a group that formed last year to support restoring the Westmont as a full-fledged theater, just last week.” The ‘Friends of the Westmont’ was a concept in June 2008 but never formed as a group. If Mr. Warshauer meant to infer the ‘Neighbors Celebrating the Westmont’, that is also inaccurate. The NCW is not in-line with Retzler, or any other developer from the June 2008 RFP public meeting.

“He noted that Allen Hauss, an authority on the history of South Jersey theaters had also visited him recently.” Mr. Hauss did not visit Mr. Warshauer. Neither Mr. Hauss nor anyone else from the NCW has seen Mr. Warshauer since June 2008.

NCW meeting in April

The next NCW meeting is this coming Tuesday, April 7that 7pm in the storybook room at the Rohrer Library in town. 

Anyone interested in preserving/restoring  the Westmont Theatre as a film and performing arts venue should stop by and sit in on this meeting.

 

Haddon Twp Mayor discusses Redevelopment

Haddon Township Mayor, Randy Teague, disccuses the in-town redevelopment projects, including the Westmont, in the spring issue of The Haddon Press. Click on the image below to read the article.