The former Destinta Theater in the Town of New Windsor has been demolished, but contaminated soil discovered at the site has halted further development there. Cleanup crews and investigative professionals at the theater site on June 6 appeared to be in the process of learning more about the contaminants and heading towards remediating the problem.

The discovery of the contaminated soil came after the demolition of the Squire Cinema movie theater and its successor, the Destinta. Most of the site today is covered with rubble and other debris under tarps, gated off to the public for their safety. The site is owned by New Windsor Destinta Plaza LLC ℅ JP Management, with an address in Hackensack, New Jersey.

Town Supervisor Stephen Bedetti, on the morning of Saturday, April 13, witnessed vehicles bringing in material and mixing it with the material from the active demolition site.

The material mixed was said to be from a site said to be located in New Jersey. Previously conducted tests on the soil found traces of lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Mercury, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium and trichlorofluoromethane.

The town’s official Facebook page released an announcement on the site cleanup: “Those passing by the old Destinta theater demolition site today [June 6] may have noticed a flurry of activity this morning. In April, our Town Supervisor noticed truckloads of illegal dumping at the former Destinta Theater demolition site on Route 94. After recording video evidence, the New Windsor Police and Fire Inspectors were called, and a stop-work order was issued by the building department pending testing.

“The testing revealed the soil that was dumped was contaminated. Today, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation [NYSDEC], New Windsor Police, Department of Labor [DOL], Miller Environmental and Quest Diagnostics were on scene for several hours taking samples and documentation for possible criminal charges and civil proceedings,” the statement continued. “The Town would like to thank all the agencies involved in this process to make sure work is safely corrected. It is a priority of the Town to ensure all building activities in New Windsor are conducted in a safe manner and abide by town and state regulations.”

The Destinta Theater closed in 2019 and came under the ownership of Phoenix Theatres. It later reopened but closed again and remained vacant for a few years before finally being torn down. It was a local community staple along with a second, now-closed theater behind it. The idea proposed for redevelopment of the overall site would be new apartments but town zoning does not permit residential usage. Several active stores continue to operate in the general area of the site.

“As it stands right now, we’re at the point where we’re waiting for their [DEC and DOL] results to come back. When their results come back, they’re going to determine what landfill they need to go to. Different landfills take different contaminants,” said Supervisor Bedetti. “They say that could be a month.”

Bedetti said that he will need to consult the town’s legal counsel on what will happen next, and added that he does not want the property owner working in New Windsor as a result of this on-going situation. Bedetti expressed the importance of working with the town, following the rules and procedures and if not, then situations such as the one currently would be the result.