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`The Loews was the place people came to forget their troubles.' - Bruce Friedman, chairman of Save the Kings
IN ITS HEYDAY in the 1930s, the Loews Kings Theatre in Flatbush was a movie house and vaudeville showplace featuring stars such as Bob Hope, Milton Berle, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Jimmy Durante and Cab Calloway.
The palatial flagship for the Loews nationwide chain of theaters, the Kings has been closed since 1979, a casualty of white flight from the neighborhood and high maintenance costs.
But now several community groups and Nakash Brothers Realty are working together to restore the Loews Kings to its former glory. Bernard James, a Flatbush developer, nightclub owner, restaurateur and concert promoter, set up Flatbush Universal Corp., a nonprofit organization, and launched a fundraising drive aimed at attracting money to develop the city-owned property as a $12-million, multipurpose cultural center.
Once renovated, James said, the facility would house a 3,200-seat theater, a 500-seat restaurant, a catering hall, health spa, a hotel with convention facilities, and the first wax museum exclusively featuring international black leaders.
The plan would be an economic boost to the Flatbush area. James said 400 to 500 people would be employed during construction, and 200 to 300 when the project is completed.
Flatbush Universal and the Nakash group - which, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Jordache Enterprises, planned to open retail shops and operate a multiscreen complex or promote live shows at the Loews - both answered a "request for proposal" issued...