Former prisons are no strangers to conversion into hotels, a la the Liberty Hotel in Boston, or office space, as may ultimately be the fate of Chelsea’s former Bayview Correctional Facility. But a former state prison in Staten Island is in line for an even more unusual transformation.
Broadway Stages, which owns sound stages in Brooklyn and Queens and lists the TV show “Rescue Me” and film “Spiderman 3” among its credits, announced on Tuesday a plan to revamp Staten Island’s Arthur Kill Correctional Facility into the borough’s first movie studio. The company bought the property from the state for $7 million, and will ultimately use the spot to film movies, television shows and music videos, officials told DNAinfo.
“Broadway Stages has been a major player in film and television here in New York City,” Kenneth Adams, president of the Empire State Development Corporation, told DNAinfo. “They’re bursting at the seams at their other locations.”
Broadway Stages plans to build five sound stages on the property in the first phase, and owner Tony Argento told DNAinfo that he will keep all of the former jail buildings for future film scenes. [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland