New Life for Aging Westmont Theater Could Be on Horizon

The Haddon Township Board of Commissioners has approved a new effort to breathe life back into the historic Westmont Theater.

The 86-year-old, former grand movie house featured a 120-piece orchestra when it first opened in 1927. But it has been dark since 1986 and now stands as an aging sentinel at the edge of the Westmont business corridor on Haddon Avenue.

Lazgor, a Cherry Hill limited liability company, has agreed to an exclusive negotiation to buy the property for $50,000 and renovate it into a commercial and retail building. The commissioners agreed to a 60-day negotiation to try to come to an agreement.

Mayor Randy Teague, one of three township commissioners, said the $50,000 purchase offer may sound low for such a grand building, but was “better than anything we’ve seen.”

Teague said the property would be worth much more if it could be demolished and developed from the ground up. But the theater is designated as a national historic landmark. As such, the facade must remain as it is and could only be demolished if it collapsed.

Teague said Lazgor will have to spend up to $4 million to renovate the theater and it will give them what they and the township want—a viable, functioning business in the space.

“At the end of the day, they’re going to have to spend a lot of money to get it to that point,” Teague said last week before the commissioners approved a 60-day exclusive negotiation with the developers. “It’s still a long way away. It doesn’t mean we sign a deed and give them the theater tomorrow.”

Teague said the township received another offer from a private citizen to purchase the building for $60,000, but the commissioners didn’t consider it credible.

“There weren’t any supporting documents about how he would pay to rehabilitate the building,” Teague said.

John Kendall, a township school board member who has performed as a professional actor, urged the board to try to preserve the auditorium portion of the building as a performance space and community room.

“It would bring people into the business there,” Kendall said.

Teague said it was a good idea, but the cost of heating and cooling the space alone could be substantial for the township.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story identified John Foley as a school board member. It was incorrect. Foley is a township commissioner.

What do you want done with the Westmont Theater? Tell us in the comments.