NORTH HOLLYWOOD : City Panel Urges Theater Upgrading

A Los Angeles City Council panel has recommended spending $250,000 to refurbish the historic El Portal Theater in North Hollywood despite objections that the expenditure would be wasteful.

The funding plan was approved on a 2-0 vote by the council’s Community Redevelopment and Housing Committee. Full council approval is still required.

Under the plan, Actor’s Alley Repertory Theatre would transform the aging theater on Lankershim Boulevard into two live theater venues with a $200,000 loan and a $50,000 matching grant from the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency. The group originally sought a $300,000 package.

“The theater is certainly worthy of saving,” said Jerry Belcher, director of the city’s redevelopment efforts in North Hollywood. Council President John Ferraro, who represents the area, also supported funding.

In February, the El Portal, which opened in 1926 as a silent movie and vaudeville house, was designated an official city landmark.

Julian Nava, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico and a candidate for mayor, said it was unwise to spend money on such a project when the city is in financial trouble.

“A dollar saved here is a dollar earned,” Nava told the committee.

But Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, a member of the committee, said that the redevelopment money tapped for the El Portal project came from a fund exclusively earmarked for the arts.

“It couldn’t be used to balance the budget or to put police on the streets of North Hollywood,” Yaroslavsky said.