City Acts to Save Old Theater

In a move to save one of the oldest buildings in Hermosa Beach, the City Council has voted to adopt an ordinance that establishes a 45-day moratorium to prevent anyone from tearing down the 69-year-old Bijou Cinemas.

In 1994, theater owner Joe Naughton was informed that the mixed-use building that houses the theater needed seismic retrofitting or it would have to be shut down. The deadline for the $500,000 overhaul is Jan. 1.

Naughton said he is exploring options to save the theater.

“We’re favorably impressed by the unusual community interest that you so seldom ever see,” Naughton said. “However, it will be difficult to find an answer that is viable to both investors and the public.”

The Bijou, which opened in 1923 as a vaudeville playhouse, is one of the oldest surviving movie houses in the South Bay.

The Art Deco theater, known as the Metropolitan in its heyday in the 1920s, anchors Pier Avenue, which is undergoing a major face-lift in January, and is the oldest building in the city with the same continuous use.

City officials say they do not want to see it die.

“It’s the most historic building in Hermosa Beach and has character that has no equal,” said Councilman Sam Edgerton.

“The theater is an important piece of the city’s past, and it also has an important place in our future.”