Coney Island Theater Building

STATUS Designated Individual Landmark

1301 Surf Ave

ARCHITECT: Reilly & Hall

DATE: 1925

STYLE: Neo-Renaissance

Brooklyn Coney Island Neo-Renaissance Revival

Designated December 14, 2010

The seven-story theater and office building recently known as the Shore Theater and originally known as the Coney Island Theater is one of the largest, most substantial structures in Coney Island in Brooklyn and, when it was constructed in 1925, represented the optimistic attitude of that period for the successful year-round development of Coney Island as a premier entertainment district.

The neo Renaissance Revival style building was constructed and owned by the Chanin Construction Company and leased to the prominent Loew’s theater chain. This large building contained stores, a theater and offices, originally intended for businesses related to the theater industry. Faced with brick and terra-cotta and highlighted by stone and terra-cotta details this structure presents a grand and substantial counterpoint to Coney Island’s more modest one- and two-story buildings.

*Excerpt from the Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report

STATUS Designated Individual Landmark

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The Neighborhood

Coney Island

Coney Island faces Lower New York Bay and Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and was formerly part of Gravesend, one of Brooklyn’s original six towns. Originally an island it was connected to Brooklyn (Long Island) by landfill in the early 20th century.

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