Historic theater is not a designated landmark
MONTANA AVE. — It’s been nearly two years since the historic Aero Theater pulled the curtain on its last film. But after an extensive renovation and excessive delays, the throwback movie house is ready for its encore.
American Cinematheque, a nonprofit arts organization, is scheduled to air its first film on Jan. 6 with actor Dennis Quaid on hand as a special guest. Those attending opening night will get a sneak preview of Quaid’s new movie, “In Good Company,” said Gwen Deglise, who is supervising the Aero’s programming.
Through January, there will be a host of foreign films being showed, some during public events and some that will be private, according to Deglise.
American Cinematheque took over the Aero 20 months ago and had hoped to open by the fall of 2003, but the opening date was pushed back until the spring of this year, and then until September. Finally, American Cine-matheque is confident the projector will begin rolling in January.
“It’s been amazing... you think the renovation will go as planned, but you cannot predict what is going to go wrong,” Deglise said, adding the interior work should be done by the middle of this month. “We are keeping our fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong.
“We are so eager to open,” she added. “But there will be a lot of stress until then.”
In addition to City Hall delays, workers have had to deal with the unexpected twists and turns of renovating a theater for which they don’t have blueprints, said Jack Koberling, of Woodland Hills-based Sierra Pacific Constructors and the superintendent of the project. He said the building is so old that many factors played a part in the delay — like when he ripped down a wall only to discover termites. Re-wiring the electrical system also was a major job.
Tuesday was the first day the theater was operating on its new electrical system. A transformer will be brought in this week, which will force electricity to go out temporarily on the block between Euclid to 12th streets on Montana Avenue. Beyond that, the next three weeks will be focused on putting the bells and whistles on the theater’s interior. A few dry runs will take place with the new projector and sound system prior to opening night.
The half-million dollar renovation project at the Aero has taken longer than American Cinematheque’s $12 million renovation of the historic 1922 Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood took. Cinematheque, which signed a 10-year-lease with theater owner James Rosenfeld in April 2003, presents a diverse, year-round series of rare and unusual films and videos from all over the world at the Egyptian Theatre. The Aero will feature films similar to those shown at the Egyptian.
Those films will be viewed on a larger movie screen with a state-of-the-art sound and projection system. American Cinematheque will run 35 and 70 millimeter films, as well as wide screen. The new screen is 14 feet wider and six feet higher than the theater’s former one, Koberling said. Five speakers are located behind the screen, with three along each side wall and four in the back. A large sub-woofer also is located behind the screen.
There are new seats and many new features in the theater. The symbolic marquee that stands above the theater located at Euclid Street and Montana Avenue remains intact, as well as the theater’s art deco interior.
The Aero was originally a World War II-era movie house that used to play films around-the-clock for military plane manufacturer McDonald Douglas employees. Later, it became a popular movie venue among the general public. Patrons, who sat on wooden, metal and cloth seats, sometimes strained to hear the low-tech sound system. The theater’s finicky, outdated projector was known to spontaneously self-destruct with a loud bang, and turn a show into an unintentional cliffhanger. But kids always got a free piece of bubble gum on the way out the door.
For 11 years, the theater ran second-run blockbusters under operator Chris Allen, who fell behind on the $10,000-a-month rent during his final months. Allen’s stepmother bought the theater in 1979 and sold it to Rosenfeld in 1996. By the end of Allen’s time at the theater, only five or six people were arriving for most showings, which put the theater’s future at risk.
In May 2000, a representative of Robert Redford announced to the Santa Monica City Council that the actor/director had plans to buy the theater and restore it as part of a planned chain of independent movie houses. But Redford’s plan soon unraveled due to financial problems.
Rosenfeld then began his search once again to find the right operator for his theater. He approached American Cinematheque in 1998 after visiting the Egyptian, but it wasn’t until the end of 2001 that discussions between the two parties became serious.
Theater fans were relieved the Aero, located on a street fast becoming the Rodeo Drive of Santa Monica, had been saved from conversion to a clothing store, the fate of so many former small theaters.
Single-screen movie houses have become a dying breed over the years. It’s gotten increasingly difficult to find an operator that has access to and can afford films that aren’t mainstream, Rosenfeld told the Daily Press last year.
Despite several attempts, the 1939 art deco building hasn’t been historically landmarked. The Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Association and the North of Montana Association petitioned the city’s Landmark Commission to declare the theater a historical landmark three years ago. But the associations withdrew the petition in 2000 because landmark status could have hindered the deal with Redford.
Landmark status limits changes to the architecture of a building. Even owners who wish to restore a building to its historical appearance sometimes view the status as a hindrance.
The status also does nothing to preserve a building’s historic use, only its appearance. Other theaters with landmark status have been turned into GAP stores and restaurants that feature old marquees and box offices.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 1, 2004. Read the original PDF.