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# Reeling from city delays, Aero Theatre readies to open
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/reeling-from-city-delays-aero-theatre-readies-to-open/
- Published: 2004-07-22T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:45:22.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Entertainment, Montana, #archive-import

*Aero to open in September*

*By JOHN F. MULLER Special to the Daily Press*

MONTANA AVENUE —Facing delays of more than a year, the historic Aero Theatre is the latest victim of City Hall’s bureaucratic red tape.

The renovation of the 65-year-old theater was originally expected to take about five months. With the nuances of the building department at City Hall included, the project is expected to last at least 17 months. Theater officials hope the Aero will be back in operation by September.

Officials from American Cinematheque, the nonprofit arts organization that took over the Aero in April of 2003, originally hoped to open the theater last fall after a series of renovations.

“There’s just been an endless backing and forthing over things,” said Barbara Smith, director of American Cinematheque. “It’s really hard to get permits in Santa Monica, and with the waiting, resubmitting, then something pops up and you do it again, it’s a long process... Having gone through a $12 million project in Los Angeles, this probably didn’t seem like it would be such a big deal to us.”

It took American Cinematheque less time to do a $12 million renovation of the historic 1922 Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood than it has taken the organization to complete the half-million dollar renovation project of the Aero, Smith said.

Cinematheque signed a 10-year-lease with theater owner James Rosenfeld in the spring of 2003\. The nonprofit presents a diverse, year-round series of rare and unusual films from all over the world at the Egyptian Theatre. Smith said the Aero will feature films similar to those shown at the Egyptian.

Andy Angle, the city’s assistant director of planning and community development, said he hadn’t been aware of anything out of the ordinary with the Aero project. He said the American Cinematheque has been within the city’s normal time standards for its permits and any perceived delays were outside of City Hall’s control.

“There are people who would like the timing for plan checks or for inspections to happen more quickly,” he said. “I think you’d find that true with a variety of services. We have standard turnaround times for the different things we do and we’re pretty good about meeting those. We understand that people would like to have faster service, so we have all our staff running as fast as they can.”

For the past year, the planning department has been under fire by residents, developers and business owners. They complain that getting what should be simple approvals costs them thousands of dollars in time and delayed plans.

Officials within the department, who say they are short-staffed and blame the slow-down on City Hall’s complex laws and policies., hadn’t been ready to take action until recently.

A consultant, who was paid $75,000 by City Hall, recently studied the department and made recommendations on how to fix the inefficiencies. Officials have not yet taken any action.

Mike Gruning, a former chair of the Montana Merchants Association and a member of the Chamber of Commerce, expressed frustration with City Hall’s policies of “unreasonable delays and unreasonable costs,” which have kept the Aero Theatre shut down.

“All of us would like (the Aero) because it’s a major boon to the area and it may be hurting a lot of businesses (because it’s been out of business for so long),” he said. “The Aero used to be a major attraction on Montana, a tourist destination, and a place where people might come and then go to other places around it.

“Who knows, maybe Wolfgang Pucks would still be operational if this process hadn’t taken so long,” he added. “Who knows, but it’s been a frustration to all of us. It’s an eyesore.”

The renovated theater will feature a bigger screen, updated projection and sound systems, better acoustics and seats, and an improved concession stand, Smith said. In addition City Hall’s delays, workers have had to deal with the unexpected twists and turns of renovating a theater for which they don’t have blueprints, she said.

“It’s always harder when you have an old building and you knock out a wall and there’s something there that you didn’t think was going to be there,” Smith said. “Or when something you thought was going to be in there isn’t there.”

The Aero’s history has had just as many twist and turns.

In May 2000, a representative for 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 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.

At the time, the theater ran second-run blockbusters under operator Chris Allen, who fell behind on the $10,000-a-month rent. By the end of his time at the theater, only five or six people were arriving for most showings.

Smith said American Cinematheque’s programming would be more fitting for the historic theater than its more recent offerings. She said neighbors of the theater have been calling her for months asking when the theater will be open and expressing their support.

“Our programming is going to be much better,” she said. “My understanding is that they showed Shrek for like six months before they closed. I don’t think you’re going to be doing too well if you’re showing Shrek for that long as a little neighborhood theater... We chose the Aero because we thought our pro-gramming would fit the theater and its customers.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/072204-03_01.jpg)

historic Aero Theatre is expected to open in September, one year late. (Photo: File photo The)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 22, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/072204.pdf?ref=smdp.com)