Historic Theater Is Gutted by Fire

A historic Art Deco theater in downtown Ventura that entrepreneurs hoped to revive as a swing dance hall was severely damaged Thursday in an early-morning fire.

The blaze gutted the long-shuttered Mayfair Theater, leaving only the building’s thick outside walls, ticket office and elaborate neon marquee.

Witnesses said flames erupted about 1 a.m., and firefighters arrived to find a man and a woman standing on the roof of the marquee. The pair were taken down by ladder, treated for smoke inhalation at Ventura County Memorial Hospital and later released, officials said.

The man and woman, squatters at the Mayfair Theater, had set up a living area in a room on the second floor and were sleeping there when fire started, city fire officials said. They crawled from their room onto the roof of the marquee, where they were rescued.

Loss of the theater is a setback to the city’s plans of restoring historic buildings and turning an aging downtown into an arts and tourism district.

Ventura residents and twin sisters Tammy Finocchiaro and Terri Moore, 35, were trying to purchase the theater for their Flyin’ Lindy Hoppers swing dance group, which performs nationally and holds classes and dance events.

On Thursday they stood on their front porch, directly across Ash Street from the theater, and watched firefighters battle the blaze.

“Do we give up? Not necessarily, but to get the smoke out and rebuild is a lot more industrious project than we had before,” a weary Moore said.

The sisters had just cleared a major hurdle Tuesday, when the Planning Commission unanimously approved a permit to allow them to turn the theater into a dance hall.

After hearing about the loss Thursday, Curt Stiles, 62, a commission member, said he had looked forward to the theater’s proposed renovation and recalled watching movies there as a child.

“That’s a part of my history going down the tubes,” he said. “Every kid in town went there.”

Firefighters searched the interior of the building, known as a haven for transients, and determined that no other people were inside, said Rod Smith, commander for the Ventura Fire Department.

Within an hour the fire destroyed most of the interior, including the 59-year-old theater’s original chairs, Art Deco chandeliers, and the building’s vaulted redwood roof.

Ten fire engines and three trucks fought the flames.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation, but officials are looking into the possibility that transients might have started it, said Bill Rigg, assistant fire chief, although he said an aging wiring system might also be to blame.

There is no property loss estimate yet, Rigg said.

Stephen Sisca, who manages the property for the theater’s Los Angeles-based owner, S.D.H. Properties, said the land and building are valued at about $675,000.

Built in 1941 by S. Charles Lee, a prominent Art Deco theater architect, the building started life as the Mayfair Theater and showed first-run films for decades.

But it fell on hard times and in the 1970s was painted pink and reincarnated as a venue for X-rated movies. In the 1990s local entrepreneurs painted it sky blue and ran it as a coffeehouse that showed art movies. But that effort failed.

The building sat empty for years, attracting transients, with only its marquee and gold light fixtures a reminder of its former glory.