La Reina in Sherman Oaks : L.A. Enacts Ban on Razing of Theater

The Los Angeles City Council has approved emergency legislation to prevent destruction of the 46-year-old La Reina movie theater in Sherman Oaks before the council can act on a recommendation to declare it a historic monument.

The measure prohibits the city Building and Safety Department from issuing a demolition permit for any structure under consideration as a historic monument. Shortly after the council’s approval Friday, the measure was signed by Mayor Tom Bradley, making it effective immediately.

A spokeswoman for developer Dennis Bass, who proposes to raze the 875-seat Art Deco theater on Ventura Boulevard at Cedros Avenue to make way for a shopping plaza, called the council action unnecessary.

Spokeswoman Jackie Brainard said Bass had no intention of demolishing the theater before the council could act on the recommendation made by the city’s Cultural Heritage Board last Wednesday to declare the structure a historic monument.

Howard Raphael, an aide to Sherman Oaks Councilman Joel Wachs, who sought the council action, said it was a precaution.

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The city’s landmark designation means a structure cannot be altered or razed for one year without the heritage board’s approval. The moratorium is designed to give builders an opportunity to revise plans to save the structure or to allow preservation groups time to raise funds to purchase the building. After the year, a builder may demolish a structure designated a historic monument.

“Mr. Bass is prepared to wait out that year,” Brainard said in an interview.

The only option left for city government would be to acquire the building through condemnation, a procedure rarely used to preserve structures. Condemnation also requires approval of the courts.

Brainard said Bass is exploring a compromise that would save the front of the theater while demolishing the rest. Mann Theatre Corp. is selling the movie house to Bass because, its officials say, large, single-screen theaters can no longer compete with multiple cinemas.