First peek inside Park Slope’s incoming Nitehawk Cinema

The overhaul of Park Slope’s crumbling Pavilion theater into Nitehawk, a service-focused cinema that originated in Williamsburg, is imminent. The conversion was first announced by the New York Times back in early September, and now, thanks to DNAinfo, there’s a first look at what the massive renovation project will bring.

The theater’s new lease on life will include seven screens, 650 seats, two bar areas, and and an in-theater dining experience. The upgrades are essential for the neighborhood’s last remaining movie theater, which DNAinfo remembers as a venue worthy of the “symphony of insults” unleashed in its 463 Yelp reviews, owing not least to its alleged brush with bedbugs, crummy seating, and similarly cringeworthy amenities.

In 2011, Nitehawk cinema founder Matthew Viragh began discussing the possibility of converting the Pavilion with Hidrock Properties, who owns the site, but determined that the timing just wasn’t right. Hidrock later decided it wanted to convert the theater into a six-story condo building with a three or four-screen theater; but that option proved unfavorable with the community.

Rendering by Think! Architecture via DNAinfo

Nitehawk Prospect Park will be designed by Think! Architecture. The Nitehawk crew will hold a formal farewell party for Pavilion on November 1, to which all are welcome. The theater is poised to reopen under the Nitehawk moniker in early 2018.

• Here's What Nitehawk Prospect Park Will Look Like When it Opens [DNAinfo]
• Park Slope's Historic Pavilion Theatre May Get 24 Condos [Curbed]