CRA eyes plan to renovate downtown movie theaters.

Would overhaul of 4 cinemas help revive central city?

The Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles is reviewing a study that recommends renovating four historic theaters in downtown Los Angeles -- to the tune of about $24 million -- as part of an effort to revive the central city's deteriorating Broadway corridor.

The study, conducted by the consulting firm Kosmont & Associates Inc. in Sherman Oaks, was commissioned by the CRA in 1993 as the agency looked for ways to revitalize the downtown area's historic core. A final version of the study should be formally presented to the CRA for approval next year.

At this point, no funding mechanism has been identified to implement any renovation plan the Kosmont study proposes. And with the CRA wondering whether a court-imposed spending cap will all but end its downtown activities within the next several months, few expect the agency to come up with much money to implement the plan.

"This study is to demonstrate that there is the potential for those theaters to operate in a self-sufficient manner," said Don Spivack, director of operations for the CRA.

Once that potential is proven, he said, it will be up to the private sector to take over the job. But Spivack added that the agency or the city could offer some "seed money" or technical assistance.

On Broadway

In 1993, the CRA initiated a study on how best to renovate the downtown historic theater district, which includes 17 historic movie and vaudeville houses primarily on Broadway between Third and Ninth streets. Most of those theaters have been shuttered or converted into retail outlets. Currently, only four are operating as theaters, while two are churches.

The Kosmont study has yet to be officially released. But a draft copy of the report, obtained by the Los Angeles Business Journal, identifies four "case study" theaters for various forms of renovation.

The Los Angeles Theatre at Broadway and Sixth Street, perhaps the grandest of the street's movie palaces, would be renovated into a live, amplified music venue featuring contemporary Latin, rock, Banda and other Latin-American-oriented music. Cost of the project is estimated at $7.4 million.

The Palace Theatre, across the street from the Los Angeles, is envisioned as an educational or repertory institution. The hall could also be rented out to for-profit, live theater producers geared towards Latino and other ethnic markets, according to the theater study. Cost of the renovation is put at $6.5 million.

The State Theatre at Broadway and Seventh Street would be reconfigured as a sports bar featuring televised soccer, boxing, wrestling and baseball. Cost of the project is estimated at $5.1 million.

Lastly, the Million Dollar Theatre at Third Street and Broadway would be turned into either a live entertainment theater and music venue with a renovation cost of $4.6 million, or a conference center. There was no cost estimate for the conference center plan.

Clean and safe

Though most of Broadway's theaters are currently closed, the Kosmont study suggests that the street eventually could be turned into a thriving theater and entertainment district. Broadway already has the theaters -- many of them highly ornate, if a bit worn -- as well as a thriving daytime retail environment attracting a largely Latino audience.

But besides the capital improvements needed to create a theater district, the Broadway area also needs a series of public safety improvements, street cleaning efforts and an overall entertainment management group to support a newly formed theater district, according to the study.

The Broadway Business Improvement District -- through which area business owners have assessed themselves higher business license fees which in turn go toward maintaining and marketing the area -- could be the first step in generating those efforts, the study said.

Estela Lopez, who heads the non-profit Miracle on Broadway group and has led the effort to form the Broadway BID, said that a similar BID in New York's Times Square has "been the carpet on which (efforts to revitalize Times Squares theaters) have been laid."

"The theater study is incredibly important to Broadway," Lopez said. "The street has virtually no nighttime action. Revitalizing the theaters could correct that."

CRA officials said that a final version of the study should be released by mid-January.