North Park Building Decayed : City Is Urged to Scrub Plans to Buy Theater

San Diego’s North Park Theater, so badly decayed that it needs $3.7 million in repairs, should not be purchased by the city despite community interest in saving the 61-year-old movie house, the San Diego city manager’s office reported Monday.

Deputy City Manager Maureen Stapleton recommended that the city cancel its plans to acquire the building for $1.1 million. The city set aside Community Development Block Grant funds on Nov. 23, 1987, to purchase the theater.

District 3 Councilwoman Gloria McColl, who has backed the purchase as a method of revitalizing the area, said Monday that the report “certainly would put a damper on the city doing anything” unless other sources of money could be found for the repairs. She said she will continue to explore alternatives with community leaders who want to see the city purchase the theater.

Now owned by the Horizon Christian Fellowship, the 1,186-seat theater on University Avenue was built in 1928 and was the first city theater to show sound motion pictures.

‘Major Historic Building’

“It’s one of the major historic buildings in North Park,” McColl said. “If it could be used as a theater, it could be a magnet to bring people into the area.”

Renovation funds might be available if the neighborhood were declared a redevelopment area, McColl said.

District 8 Councilman Bob Filner, who has been critical of plans to purchase the theater before determining whether it is usable, said the study vindicates his position.

“For us to appropriate $1 million before it was even studied was not the way to go. This bears that out,” Filner said. He said that the purchase should be killed and the money used for other revitalization efforts.

In the report, Stapleton said an engineering analysis shows that the building is unsafe under the city’s building code, and would need $1.4 million just to meet code requirements. An additional $2.3 million in renovations would be needed to make the theater usable.

Crack in Beam

The analysis shows that the theater roof is not adequately anchored to its walls and therefore does not meet wind and seismic effect requirements; there is a large crack in a second-floor weight-bearing beam and part of the mezzanine, constructed without a building permit, must be removed or rebuilt in accordance with the building code.

A separate appraisal of the property shows it would be most valuable if the theater were demolished and the land redeveloped.

Even if the city were to purchase and repair the theater, it would require a $180,000 annual city subsidy for use as a performing arts center, Stapleton reported. The theater’s economic benefit to the North Park community would be just $230,000 annually, she stated.

A separate report concluded that there is little interest by arts organizations in managing the theater. Its best use would be as a “roadhouse” that could be rented by private and nonprofit organizations.

The results of the study are scheduled to come before the San Diego City Council’s Public Facilities and Recreation committee March 8. After expenditures on the studies, about $1.01 million will be available for other projects if the acquisition is canceled, Stapleton said.