“Exciting news,” announced Andrew Kirtzman, owner of the Madison Fire Island Pines guesthouse and one of the three partners, with Matthew Blesso of Blesso Properties and Seth Weissman of Weissman Equities, in FIP Ventures, on his Facebook page, to introduce the information, set out in the New York Times Weekend Arts section, on January 6, that FIP Ventures had hired architects Diller, Scofidio & Renfro and Hollwich-Kushner to design a replacement for the Pavilion, which was destroyed, along with other southwest harbor-side properties and businesses, in the downtown Fire Island Pines nighttime fire on November 14, 2011. The fire gutted not only the Pavilion disco, but also the bar Sip ’n’ Twirl, the restaurant Pines Bistro, the gas company CF La Fountaine, the Pines Gym, and Bob Howard Real Estate. Realtor Jon Wilner lost his office as well.

“A new entertainment complex will replace the Pavilion dance club, a gay landmark in Fire Island Pines that was destroyed in a fire last year,” are the optimistic words that appear on Kirtzman’s Facebook page. “We’re rethinking it as the Theater of the Pines,” said Charles Renfro, of Diller, Scofidio & Renfro, in the Times article that Kirtzman shared, concerning the new design, intended to replace the Pines establishment, which was part of the complex that had to be bulldozed after the fire. “It’s about the comings and goings, the glances, the meetings: all of those things that are particular to the Pines,” Renfro continued.

FIP Ventures had bought the Pavilion; Hotel Ciel, formerly the Botel; the Blue Whale and Bay Bar restaurants; the gym; and the clothing store from Eric von Kuersteiner and his partner, Tony Roncalli, for $17 million early in 2010.

The hotel, the Blue Whale, and the Pines Pantry, located further north, in the harbor, were, fortunately, untouched by the 2011 fire.