The Westcott Cinema in the university area has been slammed shut for more than two months. But inside, things are starting to look different. All 560 seats have been removed from the theatre and the floors have been redone. It's the work of Dan Mastronardi and Samuel Levey, who want to transform the cinema. Levey says, “We want to do everything. We want to do music, movies, we want to do comedy, fashion shows, poetry, anything we can get our hands on.”

The cinema has a tremendous amount of sentimental value to the Westcott neighborhood. It's been here since 1928, and on its last night in October, people were sad to see it close. But now the two show promoters want it back open. They've cleaned the curtains and are building a bigger stage. It'll be 15 feet by 35 feet and Westcott Cinema will turn into a performing arts center for singers, dancers, movies and more. Mastronardi says, “Ah it's a perfect location. You have local people. It's a very artsy district. You have Syracuse University right around the corner.”

They've painted the walls and are working on the bathrooms. They're finding lots of surprises such as old plumbing and a faulty heating system, because the building is 80 years old. But they're keeping their eyes on the prize. Levey says, “The vision I think is to have an outlet in Syracuse for live entertainment. To constantly have an outlet where people can come out and see music and the arts and things that they're not getting a lot of in the Syracuse area.”