New Roles Planned for 2 Hollywood Theaters : . . . And a Drama Is Shaping Up

The owner of the Hollywood Wax Museum plans to buy two landmark movie theaters on Hollywood Boulevard--the Hollywood and the Vogue--and convert them into tourist attractions.

Spoony Singh said he hopes to convert the historic Hollywood Theater to a Guinness Book of World Records attraction that would be “the largest of its kind.” “We thought about a Ripley’s Believe It Or Not (attraction), but decided that Guinness was better,” Singh said.

The Hollywood, built in 1913, is the second-oldest movie house still operating in Los Angeles.

As part of the deal, Mann Theaters, which owns both properties, is said to have imposed deed restrictions to prohibit future owners from using either of the movie houses as theaters, according to sources familiar with the transactions.

Mann officials declined comment. Sources said the company decided to sell the huge single-screen theaters in the heart of Hollywood because they were no longer profitable.

Some preservationists, upset at the prospect of losing two historic theaters in the world’s most famous movie district, criticized the company’s plans.

“It’s sad any time you lose movie houses like these, but when it happens in the middle of what’s supposed to be the movie capital of the world, it’s especially tragic,” activist Robert Nudelman said.

Nudelman heads an advisory panel on Hollywood redevelopment that, although officially dissolved by the Los Angeles City Council in May after angering Councilman Michael Woo, has continued to meet. Last month the group urged Mann not to impose restrictions against using the buildings as theaters.

“It’s one thing for (the company) to say they aren’t interested in preserving these theaters as part of Hollywood’s heritage,” Nudelman said, “but for them to prevent someone else from coming in and doing it is unforgivable.”

Other preservationists said they hope Singh does not plan to dramatically alter the buildings.

“We would like to see the architectural and historic integrity of the buildings preserved, and would hope that the theaters aren’t irreversibly gutted,” said Hillsman Wright, president of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation.

“If large single-screen theaters aren’t viable now, who’s to say that they might not be in five or 10 years?” Wright said.

Singh said he intends to “preserve the integrity” of the buildings. “I have no interest in going in there and tearing everything out. I want them to be protected better than they have been in the past.”

Singh has yet to decide what to do with the Vogue, designed in 1934 by renowned theater architect S. Charles Lee, although he said “the plan may involve something on the order of an IMAX-type theater operation.”

May Seek Buyer

Mann Theaters, which operates Mann’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, is also said to be seeking a buyer for the Fox, another landmark movie house on the boulevard, built in 1916.

Singh, who plans to close escrow on the Hollywood Theater next week, declined to say what he agreed to pay for the movie houses. The sale of the Vogue is to be made final in several months, he said.

Peter Cohen, who heads Mann’s real estate division, referred all questions to William Hertz, the company’s vice president for marketing and public relations. Hertz did not return numerous phone calls.

Renovation of the theaters must be approved by the city Department of Building and Safety as well as the Community Redevelopment Agency, since they are within the agency’s Hollywood redevelopment area.

And because each building is on the National Register of Historic Places, the agency has the authority to require environmental impact reports and conduct hearings on proposed changes to the buildings before they are approved, said Robert Tague, the CRA’s director of operations.

“We talked to (Mann officials) and expressed our concern with the potential loss of the theaters as theaters,” Tague said. “However, we were advised that there was nothing we could do legally to prevent that from happening.”

Singh said he envisions a Guinness attraction of about 15,000 square feet that will make it slightly larger than the one in London, the Guinness organization’s principal such attraction.

“We’re probably going to have the tallest man and the heaviest man and exhibits like that, but I want the emphasis to be on the movies, since this is Hollywood,” he said.