Sag Harbor Cinema reopens doors 5 years after devastating fire this Memorial Day weekend

ByKristin Thorne WABC logo

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

SAG HARBOR, Suffolk County (WABC) -- Sag Harbor Cinema is once again welcoming moviegoers.

"This our aptly named cinema 1, it's 231 seats," said Jamie Hook, of Sag Harbor Cinema. "There are 53 separated speakers in this room."

This Memorial Day weekend is the grand opening for the theater, which almost burned to the ground five years ago.

The fire in December 2016 devastated the community.

The cinema had stood there for more than 100 years and was the center of the downtown.

This weekend it is a great theater thanks to the community which raised $20 million to rebuild it.

"People gave donations anywhere from like 35 cents literally to a million dollars," said April Gornik, Sag Harbor Cinema.

Their names are on the entrance wall behind her and some of them have a front-row seat.

"We're so deeply grateful to everyone in this community," she said.

The cinema is now state of the art with three theaters.

"This is our second cinema, cinema 2 and this is 100 seats," Hook said.

It also has a private screening room that can fit 40 people.

"This room will be made available to the community in terms of the fire department needs to do continuing education, the police department, the village," said Gail Bruesewitz, Sag Harbor Cinema.

I used to come to this movie theater before and it was just wonderful too, but what they've done here is just amazing," said Alfredo Merat, a Sag Harbor resident.

They have even added a rooftop bar.

"It's a place to have a drink and argue about the movie you've just seen or argue about the movie you're about to see," said Jamie Hook, Sag Harbor Cinema.

One could argue that the story of Sag Harbor Cinema would itself make a great movie.

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