By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HELL'S KITCHEN — Survivors of the Titanic disaster were brought to Pier 54 nearly a century ago aboard a rescue ship called the RMS Carpathia. To honor that history, the Hudson River Park Trust wants to screen a new documentary on efforts to salvage the legendary doomed ocean liner at a proposed new theater.
The 20-minute documentary, created by director/cinematographer Alex Lindsay (who previously made "Explorers of the Titanic" for British television), would likely run six times daily from April 2011 through the end of 2012 (the 100 year anniversary of the sinking), Hudson River Park Trust president Connie Fishman told Community Board 4's waterfront committee Thursday.
The idea is still in the exploratory phase, in part because it would require construction at the pier of a new 250-seat theater. The plans could also require two major annual events held at Pier 54 — the Food and Wine Festival and Gay Pride Dance — to move to other venues, according to Fishman.
For Pier 54, it would mark a return to the kind of big-scale cultural programming seen in 2005's "Ashes and Snow" animal photography exhibit.
Asked by CB4 members how much screenings would cost Pier 54 visitors, Fishman said that while prices were still under negotiation, they would likely mirror tickets for "Ashes and Snow." That show was free for school groups and children under 12, and cost adults around $12-$15, Fishman said.
