Disney Plans for El Capitan Theater OKd

The distribution arm of the Walt Disney Co. won approval Wednesday for plans to transform the auditorium of a 1920s-era Hollywood Boulevard theater into an Art Deco-style flagship for new Disney releases.

The city’s Cultural Heritage Commission approved the make-over despite its own misgivings and complaints from a small group of preservationists and local activists who want to see the former El Capitan Theater restored to its original East Indian style.

The Disney plans call for splitting the 1,500-seat auditorium--renamed the Paramount in the 1940s--into two theaters and covering the ornate cast-plaster designs with a streamlined gypsum-board facade. Critics fear that the company, which has built a re-creation of historic Hollywood at its Florida amusement park, will forever alter the character of a Hollywood landmark.

“It is not the ideal situation from a purely preservationist point of view,” said Commissioner Helen Madrid-Worthen. “But it is a workable compromise. At least we haven’t lost the theater.”

Robert Nudelman, a Hollywood theater buff and leading critic of the Disney plans, characterized the commission’s decision as an open invitation to developers to ignore historic preservation.

“We welcome the sparkling glory of painted gypsum board to Hollywood,” Nudelman sneered. “The message they are sending out is that Disney gets special treatment. If you have the money, you can get away with it.”

Disney officials had threatened to drop the project if the commission refused to approve plans for the auditorium and criticism of the make-over persisted. But a spokesman for Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Co. and Pacific Theaters Corp., which holds the lease on the building, said Wednesday that the companies plan to reopen the theater--to be renamed The Boulevard--in October for the 50th anniversary re-release of the Disney classic “Fantasia.”

Commission approval of the plans was the final hurdle for the renovation. It followed an intense weeklong lobbying effort by Los Angeles Councilman Michael Woo, who represents Hollywood, and the Community Redevelopment Agency, which is charged with pumping new life into the community.

Woo and agency officials regard Disney’s interest in the 65-year-old theater as a turning point for the faded boulevard, which has seen its once-glorious movie palaces replaced by flea markets and a Believe It or Not Museum. They said Disney’s commitment to a first-run movie theater at the El Capitan far outweighs concerns about the auditorium’s design.

Disney has agreed to restore the theater’s lobbies and exterior facade, but has refused to budge on the auditorium. Richard Cook, president of Buena Vista, said the company believes the auditorium needs to be “more fun” and “more entertaining” to attract audiences.

The Los Angeles Conservancy, Hollywood Heritage and the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation have all objected to the Art Deco renovation, but consented to remain silent after Disney promised to restore other portions of the building and to protect the original auditorium beneath the gypsum board.

The preservation groups were not happy with the compromise, but said it was best for Hollywood. Commissioner Harold Becks, alone in voting against the plan, disagreed.

“The fact that Disney is involved in the project suggests to me that there are ample funds . . . to have the history restored completely,” he said. “To do it otherwise would simply . . . set a bad precedent.”