ABERDEEN - The lights will dim at the Bow Tie Strathmore Cinemas in Aberdeen, with the longtime movie theater slated to become a craft brewery and brew pub in 2020.

Replacing the Strathmore at 1055 Route 34 will be the craft brewery and brew pub Alternate Ending Beer Co. Founder, CEO and head brewer Scott Novick said the brewery expects to open in spring 2020.

Bow Tie Cinemas could not be reached for comment about its plans. Aberdeen Mayor Fred Tagliarini said he believes the theater will close sometime at the end of summer.

More:Ciné Grand Middlebrook closes Ocean Township movie theater

More:The ShowRoom Cinema, former Beach Cinema in Bradley Beach, opens

Alternate Ending plans to split the 9,000-square-foot building down the middle, with half dedicated to its production space and half for the taproom, which will seat approximately 150 people with additional standing capacity.

Novick said the taproom will also include a room with a 250-inch movie screen for playing classic films, kids' movies and newer releases for free on at least a weekly basis. It also will be available for private parties and corporate events.

The brewery is also in talks with Bow Tie management to retain some of the theater’s seats, the popcorn machine and other items from the theater. The brewery also plans on keeping the theater’s Route 34 pylon “almost exactly the same to really keep that nostalgia of the theater,” Novick said.

Tagliarini welcomed the brew pub's plans.

"We are going to miss the Bow Tie and the old Strathmore movie theater," Tagliarini said."It served a wonderful purpose, but I also have to applaud a new business in town. We are happy to have them."

Bow Tie Cinemas has owned the Strathmore since 2012 when it took over from Clearview Cinemas.

Its closing represents a major change for the Friday Nite Specials, the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” performance troupe that’s been celebrating the 1975 cult classic musical with weekly midnight Friday screenings since December 2004.

(For a look at a 2016 Friday Nite Specials "Rocky Horror Picture Show" screening at the theater, check out the gallery at the top of this story.)

“I used to say ‘We’re the best party on a Friday night in Monmouth County.’ Because really, as far as that part of Monmouth County we are the culture, we are the arts that are in that area at that time,” said Friday Nite Specials producer Ryan Wilson.

“If you consider other parts of the state, Asbury or Red Bank or up north, like in Montclair, you think of these other areas (as) they’re like cultural centers. In Aberdeen you think, ‘Oh, quiet town,’ because that’s what it is, it’s a quiet town," said Wilson. "But we’ve been making it more colorful for the past 14 and a half years, every Friday night.”

More:NJ beer: Screamin' Hill Brewery keeps craft beer farm fresh

After more than 700 performances across 14 and a half years, the Friday Nite Specials will do the “Time Warp” for the last time in Aberdeen on July 26. After that, they will take a week off and then relaunch the show on Aug. 9 at Bow Tie’s Red Bank theater.

Wilson and Novick said the Friday Nite Specials may still make occasional return engagements the troupe’s former home once Alternate Ending Beer Co., is open for business in the space next year.

(Follow app.com for updates on Alternate Ending Beer Co., and stay tuned to the brewery at @aebeerco on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.)

Spot a construction project in Monmouth or Ocean counties and want to know What's Going There? Contact business writer David P. Willis at dwillis@gannettnj.com, and we will look into it for a future column. Meanwhile, stay in touch with the latest developments: Join the What's Going There Facebook group and subscribe to APP.com today.