DOWNEY : Krikorian Theatres Offers to Buy Site

A movie theater company has renewed its effort to build a multiscreen complex on a vacant city-owned block downtown.

Voters rejected a plan by Krikorian Premiere Theatres in 1993 to build on the site after opponents criticized a city subsidy for the project and raised concerns about possible traffic congestion. The city had planned to sell the parcel, valued at more than $1 million, to Krikorian for $1.

As part of its latest proposal, the company has offered to buy the site at 3rd Street and La Reina Avenue at fair market value. The parcel, once the site of a courthouse, has been vacant for two years.

The city purchased the parcel from the county for $1.3 million in 1991, but the land has probably dropped in value, said City Manager Gerald M. Caton. The City Council has agreed to have the site appraised.

“There’s a heck of a lot people excited about the possibility of a movie theater,” Caton said, adding that the city currently has no first-run motion picture theaters.

Theater chain owner George Krikorian said the proposed complex has been scaled back to nine screens and 1,700 seats from 12 screens with 2,500 seats proposed in 1993.