Curtain Is Descending on Mesa Cinema and Its $1 Movies

Though the box offices are often closed, the marquees blank and the movies, when offered at all, second-run or art-house flicks, Orange County’s historic theaters attract nostalgic supporters fervent about protecting the dwindling architectural landmarks.

Take Balboa Theater in Newport Beach, a 1927 historic treasure that preservationists are working hard to restore.

Then there’s the Fox Fullerton Theater. Preservation buffs recently revived a drive to save the building, designed by the same architects as Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

Even though it’s up for sale, the 1920s Miramar Theater in San Clemente is protected as a historic site, and anyone who wants to buy it must preserve its character.

But in Costa Mesa, time is running out to see a dollar movie at the Edwards Mesa Cinema at Newport Boulevard and 19th Street. A redevelopment deal now in negotiation could shut it down in December to make way for a Borders Books and Music Cafe.

“It’s an icon,” Noah Ellis, 26, of Costa Mesa said of the 1948 theater. “It’s one of the best old things around. When you pull into Costa Mesa, it kind of sets the tone.”

That may be a job left for the city’s newer landmark, Triangle Square, across Newport Boulevard, and its modern eight-screen cinema.

Unlike the theaters in Fullerton, San Clemente and Newport Beach, however, Mesa fans may have missed their opportunity. A Save the Mesa group formed earlier this year did not speak out at last week’s City Council meeting, in which the theater’s demolition was discussed.

Al Pinkly, 88, a former council member who helped start Save the Mesa, said it was a fight he couldn’t win.

“They said get the hammer ready and knock it down,” Pinkly said, saying he’s giving up. “It’s a thing of the past now.”

Bill Turpit, who is not affiliated with the group, was the only person in attendance who opposed any plans to close the theater. The theater reminds him of Costa Mesa before it incorporated in 1953, he said.

“It’s memorable of the formation of the city, and I think it’s indicative of the age of this city,” Turpit said. “Everything else that’s being built now has a false relationship to the mission-style and Mediterranean-style architecture which is indicative of what’s popular now, and it’s not indicative to the history of the city.”

Edwards will not interfere at all with the redevelopment deal and wants to focus on its Triangle Square 8 across the street, said Jim Woodin, a spokesman for the theater chain, which acquired the Mesa in 1969.

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The Mesa, with peeling paint, an old sound system and less-than-cushy seats, is no blockbuster in the era of stadium theaters with espresso bars. Attendance at the Mesa is low compared with that of the Port Theatre in Corona del Mar, the Lido Theater in Newport Beach and the Bay Theater in Seal Beach, which survive by screening foreign, art-house and some mainstream releases.

Though exact figures were not given, a company source said the Mesa attracts about 100 patrons a day, maybe double that on a weekend, who pay $1 for admission.

Though that figure doesn’t include concessions, it’s not hard to do the math.

“You see the families with kids,” said Tim Kelley, 42, a Costa Mesa resident who visits the theater regularly. “You all get in for $5 or $6 instead of $30. It’s sad to see it go.”

Kelley opposes efforts to add yet another venue to buy books, music and coffee. Barnes & Noble and Crown Books offer outlets within a block or so of the Borders site, and there is a Virgin Megastore music shop in Triangle Square. Then there’s Tower Records at 17th Street and Newport and a Moby Disc record shop at Harbor Boulevard and 19th.

“It’s going to be a combination bookstore, record store and cafe. And to me that doesn’t seem like something Costa Mesa needs,” Kelley said.

But it makes sense to Brenda Godfrey, director of development for HC Properties Ltd. in Denver, who is negotiating the deal. She sees plenty of Borders customers: “We’re very optimistic.”

City officials have no problem with closing the Mesa. “It’s seen its day and it’s time for the property to be utilized by the property owners as they see fit,” City Councilman Joe Erickson said.

Though the Mesa may close, a memory may linger. Project architects said they would consider commissioning a mural of the Mesa Cinema on the property.