1-Year Reprieve for La Reina : Theater in Sherman Oaks Wins Monument Status

The Los Angeles City Council declared the La Reina movie theater in Sherman Oaks a historic monument Wednesday, blocking--at least temporarily--a developer’s plan to raze the 47-year-old Art Deco structure for a shopping center.

“The battle has just begun,” said Joel Wachs, the councilman from Sherman Oaks who requested the action.

The unanimous council action stops developer Dennis Bass from demolishing the 875-seat theater at Ventura Boulevard and Cedros Avenue for one year without approval of the city’s Cultural Heritage Board.

Purpose of Moratorium

The moratorium is designed to give a builder an opportunity to revise plans to save the structure or to allow preservationists time to raise funds to purchase the building. After the year, a developer can demolish the building.

After Wednesday’s council vote, a spokesman for Bass repeated earlier statements that the developer has no desire to save the theater. Bass will not prepare a new plan to build his shopping center around the theater, as some preservationists had suggested, the spokesman said.

However, spokeswoman Jackie Brainard said Bass will listen to any proposals to save the theater, including offers to buy the site from him.

“But honestly, we don’t believe anybody can come up with a fair price for that property and then run it as a theater,” Brainard said. She said the property is worth considerably more than $1 million.

Higher Density Suggested

Wachs said a possible way to save the theater beyond the one-year period would be to allow the developer to build at a higher density than usually permitted in return for an agreement to preserve the theater.

Wednesday’s council action was prompted by an application for the landmark designation made to the Cultural Heritage Board by Sherman Oaks resident Lee David.

According to a report to the council from its Recreation, Library and Cultural Affairs Committee recommending the landmark designation, the La Reina, meaning “The Queen” in Spanish, is “the most stylistically sophisticated theater ever built in the Valley.”

It is the first theater in the San Fernando Valley to be named a historic monument.

Designs Patented

Some of the ideas used in the theater’s design were so novel when it was built in 1938 that architect S. Charles Lee protected them with patents.

One of the innovations, according to the report to council members, was a series of doors set at 90-degree angles to keep light out of the auditorium when patrons entered. Another innovation was the use of sound baffles on the back wall to prevent cross tones from creating sound distortion in the auditorium.

The theater is still in use. Mann Theatre Corp. is selling the theater to Bass because, Mann officials say, large single-screen theaters no longer can compete with multiple cinemas.