A Dream Gets Closer to Reality : Redevelopment: The city is poised to buy the historic Alex Theatre and transform it into a performing arts center. A final decision is expected soon.
After years of planning, studies and committee wrangling, Glendale may finally realize a dream next week by buying the historic Alex Theatre.
Members of the Glendale Redevelopment Agency met briefly behind closed doors Tuesday to approve final negotiations with Mann Theatres Corp. of California to purchase the 67-year-old movie house at 216 N. Brand Blvd., said Jeanne Armstrong, redevelopment director.
Details of the negotiations and the purchase price have not been revealed, but action is expected, “hopefully next week,” Armstrong said.
Mann spokesman William Hertz said, “We are working in a very positive way and hope to have an agreement with the city very soon.”
City officials have said the theater, built in 1925 and considered a historic monument with its distinguished neo-Greek architecture, could be rehabilitated and converted into a performing arts center within 18 months after purchase.
The agency has long talked about acquiring the theater as the centerpiece of a renaissance in the downtown redevelopment zone, halfway between the retail shopping district on the south and high-rise office buildings to the north. The redevelopment area is roughly bordered by Central Avenue, Louise Street, Glenoaks Boulevard and Colorado Street.
Development between the retail and office districts, along Brand between Wilson and California avenues, could include a cultural center with retail shops and restaurants mixed with offices, possibly a hotel and a central city park, city design advisers said.
The redevelopment zone, begun in 1972, was designed to revitalize the downtown area with a compatible mix of commercial retail, business and entertainment facilities. Among the zone’s accomplishments are several new high-rise offices, the Glendale Galleria and The Exchange shopping area. The focus now is on enhancing cultural activity in the downtown area--to bring the city alive after dark, city officials and consultants said.
Under the plan, the Alex, with its 100-foot-high spire and neon marquee, would become the central venue for downtown entertainment. The cavernous theater, the largest single-screen movie house in Glendale, was closed last September by Mann, which operates a new eight-screen cinema two blocks south in The Exchange.
After more than a year of study, the redevelopment agency on Tuesday adopted preliminary design plans to convert the Alex into a performing arts center. The work entails about $6.2 million in improvements to the old movie house to make it suitable for a variety of events, including musicals and other live entertainment.
A nine-member nonprofit corporation was formed by the city in December to oversee renovation and operation of the theater and to raise funds for the project. Along with professional architectural and historical advisers, directors have been developing plans for the theater’s conversion.
Armstrong said the preservation team wants “to preserve as much as possible of the historic fabric of the building.” Final design plans could be brought back to the city for approval next month, officials said.
A key issue in the proposal is whether to remove a canopy roof, built in 1940, that stretches from the theater box office at Brand to the entry doors. Agency members on Tuesday postponed a decision on preserving the canopy until a recommendation is made by the city Historic Preservation Commission.
Architects and historic and cultural groups are recommending that the theater’s marquee and spire be preserved, but that the canopy be removed to make room in the forecourt for large social gatherings and to uncover the unusual architecture of the original building.
