De-Mummifying the Egyptian : Movies: The American Cinematheque proposes to turn the shuttered landmark into a thriving Hollywood Boulevard film center.

In what is widely viewed as a significant boost for the redevelopment of Hollywood, the American Cinematheque today unveils its proposal to make its permanent home in one of Hollywood Boulevard’s most famous landmarks--the closed and run-down Egyptian Theatre.

The Cinematheque, a nonprofit center for the appreciation of film and video, plans to take control of the theater, once the setting for many glamorous Hollywood premieres, and restore it to its original 1922 grandeur by the end of the year. The Cinematheque hopes to offer year-round film and video series in the evenings, films for children on weekends and present a soon-to-be commissioned multimedia film about the history of Hollywood as a daytime tourist attraction.

The move by the Cinematheque is the latest in a string of entertainment and arts-related developments that recently have offset the typical downbeat take on the future of the Hollywood district.

“There’s a true renaissance going on here,” said Gerald Schneiderman, chairman of Colony Bancorp, a company that is restoring a number of Hollywood’s vintage buildings. “The Cinematheque’s plans are an exciting part of that.”

The Cinematheque currently shows films at the Directors Guild of America building and other locations, and has its offices on Hollywood Boulevard.

The group is seeking approval of its plans by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, which purchased the Egyptian Theatre and property for $1.7 million from United Artists Theatres. The Denver-based chain closed the Egyptian in July, saying that the 1,100-seat auditorium and its two adjacent shoebox-size movie houses were no longer drawing enough business. They were reduced to playing second-run movies.

Shortly afterward, the CRA, a city agency that is attempting to revitalize Hollywood, determined that the Egyptian Theatre is an essential landmark. CRA Hollywood project director Lillian Burkenheim said the agency’s goal is to “maintain the site as an entertainment use and retain its historic place on the boulevard.”

When the CRA called for proposals on the Egyptian late last year, Cinematheque executive director Barbara Smith said it seemed like “the perfect answer to our needs and Hollywood’s.”

Under the proposed project, the Cinematheque would sign a 10-year lease and restore the interiors, using a $1-million fund it has accumulated over the years, plus a hoped-for grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Cinematheque is largely supported by film industry businesses and individuals.

*

The CRA would be responsible for renovating the exterior and bringing all utilities up to current city code. The facade will be restored to the 1928 version, which Smith said included a street-front marquee. The original 1922 structure had no marquee.

Smith said the seating in the main auditorium will be reduced to 900, and projection and sound will be upgraded. A theater organ donated by the Harold Lloyd Foundation will be reinstalled by the Theatre Organ Society and that group will offer concerts with silent films from time to time.

For the most part, Smith said, the Egyptian’s interior, which was designed to resemble a Pharaoh’s temple, is largely in its original state, although an intricately designed proscenium arch was removed in 1949 to make room for a larger screen.

Eventually the shops and restaurants that line the forecourt walkway from Hollywood Boulevard to the theater’s front doors will be reopened and leased. A large kitchen adjacent to the theater will be renovated so that the Cinematheque can rent the theater and lobby for parties and movie premieres. The Cinematheque also hopes for income from the daily showings of its Hollywood history movie and from the concession stand.

CRA’s Burkenheim could not comment on the Cinematheque’s proposal. She did not know of any rival proposals as of last week; today is the deadline for applications to take over the Egyptian.

Up till now, Smith has seen one plan for a permanent home after another fall through. The group planned to take over the former Pan Pacific Auditorium on Beverly Boulevard until the developer of the project backed out, and a fire later destroyed most of the building.

Then the group joined in a massive theater-shopping-hotel complex proposed for Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, adjacent to the Chinese Theatre. Financing for the $250-million project fell through in September.

In the last two years, moviegoing action on Hollywood Boulevard has shifted to the west of Highland Avenue, with the restoration of the El Capitan Theatre by the Walt Disney Co., and the new six-screen Hollywood Galaxy Theatres built by General Cinema Corp., joining the three screens of Mann’s Chinese Theatres. On weekends, the area is a bustling cinema district.

But the Egyptian, built originally by showman Sid Grauman (who in 1927 opened the Chinese) is a block east of Highland. And like several other movie theaters further east on the boulevard, business has severely declined.

“The hope is that a restored Egyptian Theatre will be a bridge between the cinema district west of Highland and the stores east of Highland,” the CRA’s Burkenheim said. “We hope it will bring tourists further east.”

For the time being, there is only one remaining major movie theater complex to the east of the Egyptian--the three-screen Pacific Hollywood, near Cahuenga Boulevard. But its days are numbered. Plans are for that building to be restored and converted into a proposed Hollywood Entertainment Museum.

In addition to whatever the CRA decides to do with the Egyptian, there are a number of other restoration activities in the works on the boulevard, east of Highland.

Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) is moving its cutting-edge visual and performing arts space from downtown Los Angeles to the former Newberry School of Beauty storefront on Hollywood Boulevard that was acquired by the CRA. There now is talk that the Los Angeles Photographic Society will locate its gallery near LACE and that a Center for Gay and Lesbian Artists will also emerge in the area.

Another project under way is at the Max Factor Building, the 1920s Regency Deco-style structure on the east side of Highland, south of Hollywood Boulevard. The upper floors are being converted into what will be known as the Museum of Hollywood History by early next year. Colony Bancorp is the principal backer of the museum project, which is being directed by longtime Hollywood activist Robert Nudelman.

The Max Factor building will also feature a 99-seat theater that will house the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre, which also has a performing space near downtown.

Meanwhile, the CRA has helped the Stella Adler Academy and Theatre to relocate from its burned-down old Hollywood site to the corner of Hollywood and Highland.

*

Amid all the developments, however, is an underlying concern among merchants and theater operators about the impact of Metro Rail construction due to begin by the end of the year, with underground stations proposed for Hollywood and Vine and Hollywood and Highland.

One watchdog group, the Los Angeles Historical Theatre Foundation is watching the situation closely. According to its acting president David Cameron, the group is concerned that underground rail construction might turn Hollywood Boulevard into a “war zone,” making it difficult for theaters to survive.

Colony’s Schneiderman agreed that rail construction will disrupt the boulevard for years. But in the long run, he said, “the subway will become an asset for the district.”