Farmingdale Village officials have submitted a plan to the state for a proposed 8,000-square-foot, 225-seat theater in a section of its downtown parking lot, which will be partially funded through the state’s NY Forward grant, according to Mayor Ralph Ekstrand.
Ekstrand said the theater will be located at what is currently a parking lot just south of South Front Street near the Long Island Rail Road.
The theater is expected to take away 30 to 40 parking spaces from the village, but Ekstrand said there will still be plenty of parking in the downtown area. He also said the parking lot will receive a reconfiguration with the development of the theater.
“We have over 1,600 parking spaces in our downtown, so taking away 35 to 40, to me, is insignificant,” Ekstrand said.
The village would own the theater, but Ekstrand said the village would pay a theater company to manage it. The theater is expected to host local dance groups, musical acts, movie nights and other community events.
The Village of Farmingdale won the state’s $4.5 million NY Forward grant in March 2025, designed to boost downtowns across New York. Village officials previously stated that their plan is to allocate the money to a capital expense program for downtown businesses and to the restoration of the Thomas Powell House, alongside the construction of the theater.
A forum was held in June 2025 at the Farmingdale Public Library, where village residents gave their input on which projects they wanted the funding used for.
The theater is expected to cost between $4.5 and $5 million, and the village plans to use $3 million from state funding and issue a bond for the remaining balance, Ekstrand said.
The proposed theater will be built on village property, so it will not have to pay for the land.
Ekstrand said a strategic investment plan has been submitted to the state for review, and approval is expected sometime this spring. After the village gets approval, site planning and the bidding process will begin to move the project forward, he said.
