'We just figured it would be here forever.' Puppetworks being kicked out of Park Slope building after 36 years
The theatre says it is finalizing a deal for a new home not far from the old one
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After 36 years at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Fourth Street in Park Slope, Puppetworks - a local puppet theater - says it is being kicked out of the building it has called home.
"Most of the kids have never seen puppets telling a story, and this is their first experience, and they just light up," said Moira Walsh, a teacher at P.S. 222 in Marine Park, who has been bringing classes to Puppetworks for years. "We just figured it would be here forever."
Instead, Puppetworks says it got the news in March that it would need a new home.
The plan is for the last performance in August, so that they can be out by the fall.
"There's people who cry, because they're so connected (to the building)," said said Ronny Wasserstrom, a longtime puppeteer with the theater about the reaction the news has gotten.
The old landlords are selling the building so they can retire and move to Florida.
Wasserstrom and other members of the Puppetworks staff say that while they have never met the new landlords, they have been told they plan to gut the building and renovate it.
"They just look at the bottom line," said Wasserstrom. "They're not thinking about the people who live here or us at all."
However, the show will go on. While nothing is set in stone enough for an official announcement, Puppetworks says it is finalizing a deal for a new space not too far away from the old one.
"The emotional part, I imagine, is when we see this place empty of the puppets," Wasserstrom said, looking around. "But they're not disappearing, and it's nice to realize that people wanted us."
Before closing the doors, Puppetworks is hoping to host a "nostalgia night," recreating some of the most popular scenes from its shows, and also a moving sale, for some of the things it will not be able to take with it.
