MARQUEE RESURRECTION REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BUYING RESEDA THEATER.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

RESEDA - Bruce Whidden was seven when he shelled out 15 cents for a pocketful of candy bars, then 49 cents more for a Disney double feature at the Reseda Theater.

Forty years later, his childhood movie house sits dark, gutted and a target for gangland graffiti.

``I would just love to see it brought back to both a live stage and film house,'' said Whidden, 44, of Reseda. ``Reseda used to be a live place - I'd like to see it come back.''

Whidden may soon get his wish, for behind the dormant marquee and neon symbol of Reseda are proposals to save the historic theater and breathe new life into Main Street.

The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency is buying the 350-seat Reseda Theater as a linchpin for suburban renewal at Sherman Way and Reseda Boulevard.

And at least two community groups have expressed interest in relighting the vintage neighborhood marquee that for decades drew lines around the block for top movie hits.

``I would love to see this made into a performing arts space,'' said Leslie Lambert, program manager for the Los Angeles CRA offices in Reseda and Canoga Park. ``It's the center of the business district, the center of streetscapes and facade (programs).

``That block has been going downhill for years, and I think that the theater has something to do with it.''

After 15 years of no shows at the Reseda, the LACRA is now in escrow to purchase the theater for an undisclosed amount exceeding $1 million.

The CRA has received more than a half-dozen letters of interest to develop the property. Next month, the agency will put out requests for proposals for performing arts or retail space.

Preservationists say the theater, opened in 1948 and designed by renowned movie-house architect Charles Lee, is worth saving as a showcase for historic films and a legacy to San Fernando Valley moviemaking.

``There are no more theaters from that era,'' said Kirby Pringle, a board member of the San Fernando Valley Historical Society. ``What the historical society wants to do is to restore it to close to its original glory - that it remain a motion picture theater for the Valley.''

Pringle stood outside the aging theater, its '50s lettering bent forward like a cowboy racing on a horse in an old Western. The Historical Society would like to show historic films and hold Western and Tarzan film festivals there.

James Kinsey, president and chief executive officer for the Valley Cultural Center, which currently manages the Madrid Theatre in Canoga Park, has also expressed interest in managing the Reseda Theater.

With enough redevelopment agency or corporate capital, the VCC could provide a grass-roots meeting hall for such groups as the Boys & Girls Club, Rotary or Kiwanis. The venue could even stage plays or historic films.

``Our interest is high, but also measured as well - we've been there, done that,'' Kinsey said. ``It's a business first; it's the only way to look at it.''

Lambert said the CRA would only consider agencies with a proven track record of running a business or performing arts center. Renovating the theater for performance arts or retail purposes could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There's also the issue of parking, which is limited to only 286 spaces on nearby streets.

``This is a very expensive project,'' Lambert said. ``I wouldn't have a problem with the VCC, but for somebody that hasn't had any experience, it's frightening.''

Until the 1960s, local business owners say, it wasn't unusual for a line to stretch around the block, with movie patrons licking 15-cent ice cream cones from nearby Sav-on.

With the demise of single-screen theaters, the Reseda Theater metamorphosed into a Hispanic movie house, then as a venue for country-and- western hoedowns. Lambert said its current owner, Monsour Yamin, has been cited for numerous public-nuisance complaints, including graffiti and occupation of the building by transients.

The business district, currently undergoing a multimillion-dollar street and building facade makeover, is populated by a string of rug and upholstery stores.

``Anything to get it livened up a little bit, we need that boost,'' said Dr. Marshall Field, an optometrist at the end of the block who's been there since 1965. ``We have this little community - if we can get this theater fixed up, everything will follow suit.''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Kirby Pringle of the San Fernando Valley Historical Society stands in front of the vacant Reseda Theater.

(2 -- 3) The Reseda Theater on Sherman Way, vacant today as shown at top, was a popular movie house in the 1950s, above, drawing lines of moviegoers to catch the latest hits.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer