WEST VILLAGE — The IFC Center is one step closer to expanding onto Cornelia Street.
The expansion plan would increase the number of screens from five to 11, double the theater's size to 20,000 square feet, and allow it to accommodate nearly twice as many viewers.
The Cornelia Street side would be the back of the building and would only function as an exit in the event of an emergency, and would never be used as an entrance.
The project received the Landmarks Preservation Commission's blessing last month after some changes to the original proposed design.
This is what the Cornelia Street side currently looks like, and what was originally proposed:
And this is the design approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission:
The approval was first reported by the pro-development blog YIMBY.
LPC commissioners balked at the large glass windows at the first meeting, according to YIMBY. The changes involve making the windows heavily frosted and placing zinc panels in between them, which LPC Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan said is “inviting” while neither granting access or teasing passersby, YIMBY reported.
She also reportedly praised the fact that the "materials relate to the architecture of the entire building."
John Vanco, senior vice president and general manager at the IFC Center, credited "community feedback" with leading the cinema to "a better design that was approved by the LPC."
IFC executives say the expansion is needed for a number of reasons.
For one, it will enlarge their lobby, which they say is currently too small to accommodate their crowds, and often has moviegoers spilling out onto Sixth Avenue, iritating neighbors.
But residents don't believe the issue will get better — if anything, enlarging the theater will worsen it, said David Gruber, president of the block association for Carmine Street, which abuts the section of Cornelia that includes the expansion.
"They're still only going to be having one ticket kiosk, and now double the amount of people exiting and entering the theater," Gruber said.
Vanco still insisted that the "greatly expanded lobby lounge" is "the key advantage" of the redesign, and said Gruber was incorrect about the ticket kiosk.
"We’re nearly tripling our box office's capacity to accommodate ticket-buyers, with many additional ticketing stations,” Vanco said.
Still, Gruber and his neighbors also question whether the theater truly needs to expand.
"I think they're being disingenuous to say they're having a financial hardship," Gruber said. "If five screens is a hardship, why is 11 screens not a hardship? We really question what their need is."
IFC will have to convince the city's Board of Standards and Appeals of their hardship in order to change the site's zoning to allow them to move forward.
An IFC spokesman said the company plans to file an application for that zoning variance next month, and anticipates public hearings will be held at Community Board 2 and the BSA in the spring.
