It’s Curtains for the Alex : * Theaters: The curtain falls on a historic movie house but could rise again on a different set. Talks are under way to buy it and convert it into a performing arts center.

The final credits of tonight’s showing of “Terminator II” will mark the closing of the Alex Theatre, after 66 years as Glendale’s premiere movie palace.

City officials promise however that, like the character in the film that will end its run, it’ll be back.

Officials of Mann Theatres Corp. of California said the historic theater will close to regular showings because of dwindling attendance.

The city is negotiating with Mann to buy the Alex to convert it into a performing arts center. “Maybe this will help get us a performing arts center sooner,” said Councilman Carl Raggio.

Economics have shifted Mann’s attention to its newly opened eight-screen cinema in The Exchange, two blocks south of the Alex. But the Alex could be reopened for the showing of new movies during holiday periods, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, said Mann spokesman William Hertz.

The cavernous old theater with Greek and Egyptian motifs originally opened as the Alexander, for vaudeville productions, in 1925. But it has outlived its usefulness to modern theater chains, which have switched to multiplexes tucked inside shopping malls for profitability.

The Alex could serve as a focal point of Glendale’s downtown redevelopment zone, city officials said. At 216 N. Brand Blvd., the theater is midway between the Glendale Galleria and the retail section to the south and the high-rise office development to the north.

The Committee for Arts at the Alex, a 21-member task force appointed by the city in January, has been studying ways to save the theater. It is expected to recommend that the Glendale Redevelopment Agency purchase the Alex and convert it into a performing arts center, estimated to cost from $4 million to $8 million.

That idea was largely endorsed at a public forum Saturday. About 150 advocates of preserving the Alex, including producers and performers, urged the city to buy the property.

Only Al Hoffman of Glendale voiced opposition. He has long maintained that purchase and renovation of the theater is too costly, and that the famed Fox-Lanterman theater house organ, which the city purchased last year for $50,000 from La Canada Flintridge, cannot be installed there.

City redevelopment officials said the closing of the Alex will have no effect on negotiations to purchase it. Jeanne Armstrong, Glendale redevelopment director, said she was assured Tuesday by Mann officials that security measures will be maintained to prevent vandalism.

Andrea Humberger, president of the Glendale Historical Society, said members of the society and of the Los Angeles Historic Theater Foundation will stage an informal farewell to the Alex at its final screening today at 7:45 p.m. “It will mark the end of an era,” she said.