Culver City : Theater Conversion OKd

The Culver Theater, which for the last 10 years has been operating as a 3-screen movie house, will be converted back to a single auditorium for movies, live productions and public meetings.

The City Council agreed with a Redevelopment Agency staff recommendation that a single theater with at least 800 seats was preferable to its present configuration or to demolishing it.

The city staff will prepare a study to determine the market demand for commercial and other non-city uses. The study also will look at potential traffic and parking problems and at whether the theater should be managed by the city or a private operator.

The staff recommended converting the 3-screen theater into a single auditorium because the city has only only two other large auditoriums, the Veterans Memorial Auditorium and Culver High School’s Robert Frost Auditorium.

The staff report also noted that a residents committee looking into future needs of the city expressed a need for space that could be used for overflow public meetings and live performances.

The Redevelopment Agency bought the theater in May, 1985, and tried to sell it to Filmcorp Group Inc. The two sides could not reach an agreement, and negotiations ended June, 1987.