the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, the historic Warner Theater property, a notable part of Ridgewood’s heritage, was a key topic during a special public meeting of the Ridgewood Village Council on January 8, 2025. The council entered a closed session to discuss contract negotiations regarding the theater.
Property Overview
The Warner Theater is currently assessed at $4 million and contributes approximately $115,000 annually in property taxes. With its historical significance and prime location, any decisions about the property are sure to have a lasting impact on the community.
Contract Negotiations: What’s Next?
While the exact details of the contract negotiations remain under wraps due to the closed session, residents are naturally curious—and perhaps a little apprehensive—about what these discussions could mean. Potential changes in ownership, usage, or redevelopment of the theater could have financial and cultural implications for the Village of Ridgewood.
In January of 2024 , Ridgewood Village Manager Keith Kazmark commented on the closing of Warner Bow Tie Cinemas saying in a Facebook post;
“While our community is saddened by the news of the closing of Warner Bow Tie Cinemas (after 90+ years), a new chapter will soon be written. Mayor Vagianos has been in touch with ownership and Bow Tie Partners plans to remain part of the downtown Ridgewood community. They are currently evaluating multiple scenarios for redevelopment of the movie theater space, including conversion back to a single auditorium to be used as a performing arts venue. More to come as plans finalize!”
At the time blog reader suggested, “The Ridgewood Guild and Ridgewood Arts Foundation will be interested in partnering with the owner. they have already reached out to the owner. Between the two groups , there is a lot of high powered entertainment types that always have supported the arts within Ridgewood and the surrounding communities.”
Community Concerns
Local voices have already begun to express concern about the negotiations. Some Ridgewood residents cautioned the community to “hold on tight to your purses and wallets,” suggesting that significant financial considerations could be at stake.
Transparency and Future Updates
As discussions progress, residents will be looking to the Village Council for transparency and updates about the Warner Theater’s future. The theater’s historical value and its role in the Ridgewood community make it a topic of great interest and importance.
Stay tuned for updates as more information becomes available. What are your thoughts on the future of the Warner Theater? Let us know in the comments below.
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Guaranteed that Vagianos will propose construction of another multimillion dollar parking garage.
Named after him, or even better, after dwarf Gottheimer.
Useless thing named after a useless person.
Asbestos!
Who will be paying for the remediation?
Charter buses/school buses dropping off and picking up patrons of the facility will clog traffic on E. Ridgewood Ave.
No it won’t.
Expect “pay for parking” times to be adjusted to include later weekday and Saturday evenings and all day on Sundays.
Here’s the deal for parking at the Bergen PAC in Englewood:
https://www.bergenpac.org/plan-your-visit/parking-directions
Who owns that building now and was there any construction done inside?
LLC affiliated with Bow Tie Cinemas. All seats were removed as were the walls that created the multiplex.
This has all the makings of becoming the biggest cluster “F” in the Village’s history, especially with Vagianos at the helm.
If the performances would be primarily on weekends, may be there could be arrangements to utilize the park and ride and a trolley/ jitney to reduce the traffic in town?
Performances at the Bergen PAC and other PACs in New Jersey indicate that there are weekday performances all the time.
Who are you all kidding.. It’s going to be for Migrant Housing !
Love ( NOT) how Keith calls it our village. It’s NOT his he doesn’t pay taxes. He collects a check. He work for us. He is an employee not a member
With “bosses” like you, “employees” like Keith make a lot of sense.
Hi Keith 👋🏻
He has no self awareness at all
An interior floor plan as a vacant “retail space” and post-demolition photos can be found on CoStar.
That said, it’s being marketed by someone. “The Warner” new multifamily housing in a history village setting.
https://www.ripcony.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RidgewoodNJ_190ERidgewoodAve_MktPkg-1.pdf
Will be needed to meet affordable housing requirements.
The property is being actively marketed as rental commercial/retail space.
Will Vagianos and his cohorts actually have the chutzpah to authorize use of taxpayer dollars to prevent the property from being used as anything other than a PAC?
HUGE LAWSUIT IF THIS IS THEIR PLAN!
PACs are traditionally run by established/experienced 501C3 corporations, and funded exclusively by grants, private/corporate donations, and members, NOT by taxpayer dollars.
I have heard affordable housing.
This council and the village manager are NOT transparent. They have secret meetings, things are done in closed sessions, like the contract with Healthbarn at Habernickle. Things are done in a very secretive manner. These people are NOT to be trusted. I don’t give a hoot if Vagianos is friends with Gotty, Vagianos is a dirty bird.
Put Healthbarn there! Or at the new pocket park in town. Way more suitable since it is a full time business!! 6 days a week with more evening hours than down town. Makes perfect sense