For years, Lake Avenue was a place residents drove through on the way somewhere else. That changed in June, when a ribbon cutting inside a century-old theater gave the strip the one thing it had been missing: a real anchor. The rest of the block finally has something to orbit around.
The Calderone Reopens, And The Street Rearranges Around It
On June 16, 2026, The Long Island Times covered the ribbon cutting that opened the Celebrate St. James Center for the Arts inside the restored Calderone Theatre at 176 Second Street, just off Lake. The building has been a lot of things in its life. It started as a vaudeville stage, became a movie house, then spent decades as office and retail space before Celebrate St. James took it on. Its next chapter is a working arts center with gallery exhibits, a historic movie museum, classic film screenings, and a partnership with the Lighthouse Repertory Theatre Company that puts live productions on the stage again.
If you have not been inside since the reopening, that is the trip to make first. Tours run Tuesdays through Thursdays and again on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. by appointment. The Movie Museum and gift shop are the easiest way in for anyone who is more curious than committed.
A Route That Actually Works On Foot
The stretch is short enough that most residents can turn it into an afternoon without moving the car. Here is one order that flows:
- Start at Deepwells Farm, park there, and walk to the St. James General Store using the pedestrian crossing on Moriches Road that the Town completed as part of phase one of the Downtown Revitalization Project. The General Store bills itself as the oldest general store in continuous operation in the United States, which is worth ten minutes even if you are not shopping.
- Head south on Lake to Celebrate Park, between Fourth and Fifth Streets. Landscape architect Bob Retnauer of RDA designed it, and it opened in October 2022 with a wrought-iron gateway, a pergola with seating, and a pavilion with original artwork by St. James artists. The 33-space municipal parking lot behind it includes an EV charging station, which is why the park sits where it does.
- Cross to Mickey's Ice Cream Kitchen, directly across from Celebrate Park. This is the pairing the Town has been talking about for years, and it now exists as intended.
- Continue to the Calderone Theatre on Second Street for a tour, an exhibit, or whatever is running that afternoon.
- Dinner on Lake, options below.
The whole loop is under a mile. That was the point of the sidewalk, curb, lighting, and crosswalk work along Lake Avenue from Moriches Road to Woodlawn Avenue.
Where To Eat Without Leaving The Corridor
The dining stretch on and immediately off Lake has thickened in the last few years. A rough map for residents who want variety within walking distance of the theater:
| Spot | Address / Area | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Voila! The Bistro | 244 Lake Ave | French-American, prix fixe, quieter dinner |
| Husk and Vine Kitchen and Cocktails | Lake Ave corridor | Cocktail-forward date night |
| Enology Wine Bar & Bistro | Lake Ave corridor | Wine list, small plates, outdoor seating |
| Basil Cafe | Lake Ave corridor | Casual Italian, family-friendly |
| eatMOSAIC | Lake Ave corridor | Menu that rotates weekly, BYOB |
| St. James Pizza & Pasta | Lake Ave | Neighborhood slice, delivers to Nissequogue and Head of the Harbor |
| Seaqua Deli and Caterers | Lake Ave | Takeout lunch, catering |
Voila! anchors the higher end of the strip at 244 Lake Ave with a French-Mediterranean menu that leans on locally sourced ingredients. eatMOSAIC changes its menu every Wednesday, which is either an argument for or against depending on how you feel about surprises. Husk and Vine and Enology have both drawn a steadier weekend crowd since the streetscape work wrapped, which fits the pattern the Town predicted when it prioritized sidewalks and lighting over cosmetic touches.
The Programming Calendar Worth Bookmarking
The Center for the Arts is not a one-visit building. Its calendar is where the neighborhood benefit compounds. What has been running or is scheduled:
- Summer Concert Series at the Cultural Arts Center
- Country Line Dancing Monday nights at the Saint James Community Cultural Arts Center
- Art Show on March 28, 2026, and the recurring annual gallery openings
- Living History Series, including sold-out talks like Kerriann Flanagan Brosky and Joe Giaquinto's Haunted Long Island Mysteries
- Kids Productions and Main Stage shows through the Lighthouse Repertory partnership
- Movie Museum open during tour hours
Celebrate St. James was founded in 2017 by Jack Ader, Arline Goldstein, and Natalie Weinstein. Weinstein is the same owner who bought the Calderone building in 1985 and kept it standing long enough for this moment to be possible. That backstory matters when you walk in, because almost nothing about the restoration was inevitable.
The Boring Infrastructure Story That Explains Everything
The reason Lake Avenue is turning into a place you walk instead of drive is not the theater. It is the sewer. Suffolk County has been upgrading the sewer district in the Fairfield section of St. James, and Lake Avenue property owners will be able to connect once that work is complete. That single fact is what unlocks new restaurant tenants, because Suffolk County Board of Health rules on septic capacity have effectively capped seat counts along the corridor for decades. More sewer capacity means larger kitchens, longer hours, and the kind of tenant mix that keeps a downtown open past 8 p.m.
The Town has coordinated the streetscape work with the sewer timing on purpose. New sidewalks, planted trees, benches, decorative crosswalks, and driveway aprons went in alongside dry sewer mains so the corridor would not have to be dug up twice. It is the least glamorous part of the story and the reason the rest of the story is happening at all.
For residents who own homes near Lake, this is also the part of the story that is easiest to see from the outside. Storefront vacancies that sat empty for years have new tenants. The 0.8-mile stretch that a local artist and a real estate broker famously counted "nearly 20 empty storefronts" along in 2018 no longer reads that way on a walk.
Weekends Worth Building Around
A few dates and standing habits worth putting on the calendar this fall:
- Saturday and Sunday tour hours at the Calderone, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., by appointment through Celebrate St. James
- Monday night Country Line Dancing at the Cultural Arts Center
- The St. James Day street event, which has historically served as the community's kickoff for the fall retail season
- Rotating gallery openings at the Center for the Arts, generally announced on the Celebrate St. James newsletter
Bring out-of-town guests on a Saturday and the loop essentially plans itself: coffee at one of the Lake Ave cafes, a walk to the General Store, an hour at the Calderone, ice cream at Mickey's across from Celebrate Park, and dinner at Voila!, Husk and Vine, or Enology depending on the mood. Ten years ago this itinerary did not exist. It exists now.
For Residents Who Have Been Watching This Slowly Happen
If you have lived in St. James for a while, the change is not a surprise so much as a confirmation. The Town's phrase for it, used at the Celebrate Park opening, was that vacancies were down and values were up. That is what a functioning downtown does to the streets around it. The theater reopening is the moment the pieces stopped being individual projects and started reading as one place.
For anyone who wants to keep tabs on what is opening next along Lake, the Celebrate St. James newsletter and local reporting from TBR News Media are the two feeds that consistently break the news first.
When you are ready to talk about what the change in the downtown means for the specific block or street you live on, Mark E. Brode Jr. is a call away. Let's connect.
