CRA OKs Plan to Renovate 1917 Theater

The Million Dollar Theatre--Los Angeles’ premiere Spanish-language movie house--would be renovated under a tentative $2.6-million agreement reached between owners of the historic building and the Community Redevelopment Agency, officials said Thursday.

Under the agreement, which requires City Council approval, the popular theater and portions of its 12-story building at 3rd Street and Broadway downtown would be renovated, beginning within the year. In exchange, the CRA would gain 65,000 square feet within the structure for future development.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Don Spivack, CRA director of operations. “It will mean the rehabilitation of a historic landmark and it also guarantees an active theater use for the future.”

Ira Yellin, principal owner of the Million Dollar Building, added: “I’m very happy about this . . . (because) it is difficult to attract traditional financing into the area.”

Mixing Spanish and Baroque architecture, the building--erected in 1917--is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In recent years, however, street hustlers, petty criminals and the homeless have congregated on the streets outside, causing some developers to shy away from the ornate building.

Nevertheless, the movie house, which has shown Spanish-language films for 50 years, seemingly has been the most popular in the city, consistently attracting large crowds on weekends.

Yellin seized on the district’s potential, inviting other investors to develop the Million Dollar Theatre, the Grand Central Market next door and the historic Bradbury Building across the street. He helped organize Miracle on Broadway, a partnership of city officials and local businesses to revitalize the thoroughfare.

Yellin, who bought the Million Dollar property late last year for $6.5 million, said the CRA agreement is important because it provides another strong signal that the downtown area is on the rebound.

The theater, built by legendary film maker Sid Grauman, attracted the biggest names in vaudeville and the motion picture industry during the pre-Depression years. Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish were among the stars who attended the theater’s 1917 opening night presentation of “The Silent Man.”

Latin Stars Appear

By 1939, the theater began showing Spanish-language movies and some of the biggest stars from Latin America--Jorge Negrete, Javier Solis, Cantinflas (Mario Moreno), Vicente Fernandez and Lola Beltran among them--have performed there over the years.

At the same time, the building housed the offices of the Metropolitan Water District. The agency was there for more than 30 years until it moved to its current headquarters on Sunset Boulevard, near Chinatown, in 1963.

Since the MWD moved out, the building’s upper floors have remained mostly vacant.

Under the agreement, Yellin is required to maintain the first-floor businesses, including the theater. Immediate rehabilitation work will be limited to the interior of the movie house, the adjacent bookstores and pharmacy and the building’s facade.

The structure’s upper floors may be converted later into residential units or office space, the CRA’s Spivack said.

Yellin did give in on one matter involving the building. In the past, he said he planned to rename the building in honor of William Mulholland, the legendary DWP engineer who fought some of his biggest battles for Southland water in the 12th-floor boardroom.

But Yellin said Thursday that the Million Dollar name will be retained.

“A lot of people like it,” he said.

Times staff writer Beth Kleid contributed to this story.