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Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz broke ground Wednesday on the Flatbush venue's $94 million restoration.

The project aims to bring the theater back to its 1920s splendor. It's been empty since 1977.

It also calls for an expansion to make the theater suitable for concerts, dance performances, musicals and comedy shows.

"It's a matter of making sure that the building can meet its future programming needs, and that it can bring all the different kinds of performances that the community wants to see here," said Gary Martinez of Martinez/Johnson Architects. "Building in that 21st-century technology into a 20th-century venue kind of really is part of the challenge that we're faced with."

Renovations are expected to be complete in 2014. Once finished, the theater could host between 200 and 250 performances a year.