Landmark Commission holds off on Pavilion Theater development, change of plan in the works

After preview plans for a remodeled version of the historic Pavilion Theater—and its adjacent neighbor, the shuttered Circle’s Restaurant—debuted to mixed reviews at a Community Board 6 Land Marks and Land Use Committee meeting last month, the Landmark Preservation Commission’s (LPC) August 18 public hearing shelved out more modifications for the developers to consider before any approvals for development can be made.

As this paper previously reported, Hidrock Properties, a real estate development company, purchased Park Slope’s Pavilion Theatre at 188 Prospect Park West in 2006. Six years later, the company purchased the building next door—formerly Circle’s—expanding the square footage available for development to 33,000 square feet.

According to CB 6, the main issues with the developer’s initial plans presented at the July Land Marks and Land Use meeting had to do with the proposed re-design of the building—mock-ups that some community members felt might not “fit in” with the surroundings of the historic site, located directly across from Prospect Park.

“Our committee reviewed the plan and felt, overall, that there was care given to the treatment of the Pavilion Theatre building itself, but had some reservations about the treatment of the adjacent building,” said District Manager of CB 6 Craig Hammerman of the building that was formerly Circle’s.

While the committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full board approve Hidrock’s plans in July, it outlined certain conditions and changes that members felt needed to be made and presented to the LPC on August 18.

“The committee’s issues were mainly pertaining to the adjacent building,” Hammerman stressed, citing that “conditional approval” documents for the hearing were being prepared.

According to Damaris Olivo, a representative with the LPC, the hearing ended in “no action.”

“The Commission asked [the] applicants to make modifications to their proposal,” she said, noting that Hidrock was given specifications for several changes that needed to be made.

The commission will hold off on a vote until the developer returns with modified, neighborhood suitable plans.

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