Council
Requests Proposals for Downtown Theater |
By Anita Varghese
Staff Writer
November 14 -- The City will soon begin a process to request
proposals from theater operators who want to build stadium seating
digital theaters in Downtown, where outmoded movie houses face stiff
competition from state-of the art venues in neighboring communities.
Council members agreed on Tuesday to let staff move forward with
soliciting proposals to redevelop Parking Structure 3 and install
ground-level pedestrian space, contemporary cinema screens and public
parking.
“Basically, this is to test the waters,” said Council
member Ken Genser. “We did receive an unsolicited proposal
and if we are going to consider one party’s proposal, we might
as well find other parties who want to submit proposals so that
we can have the maximum number of opportunities to look at options.”
The City recently received an unsolicited proposal from Metropolitan
Pacific Capital and Mann Theaters to upgrade Mann’s Third
Street Promenade theater by expanding onto the parking structure
site.
“Movies were critical to the revitalization of Third Street
Promenade and Downtown in the late 1980s,” said Andy Agle,
director of Housing and Economic Development.
“The Promenade Uses Task Force identified the importance
of cinemas to the diversity of activities in Downtown, both as an
activity itself and as an anchor for other activities such as restaurants.”
If accepted, the proposed theater would be incorporated into a
plan to add 1,700 new parking spaces over the next decade Downtown,
including retrofitting three parking structures and rebuilding Structures
1, 3 and 6. The plan also calls for building two new structures.
A theater consultant is meeting with theater operators and City
staff to discuss Mann’s proposal to construct two levels of
cinema space over subterranean public parking.
Existing theaters in Santa Monica do not offer stadium seating
and other amenities that new theaters offer in neighboring communities,
such as Culver City, Westchester and Westwood.
Upgrading the aging cinemas Downtown is in keeping with the City’s
economy and sustainability practices, City members said.
“This is a sustainable thing to do because there are fewer
car trips going out of the city, and this type of proposal promises
to improve the pedestrian environment on Arizona and Fourth Street,”
said Mayor Richard Bloom.
In Santa Monica, AMC operates a seven-screen theater, Mann Criterion
a six-screen, Loews/AMC a four-screen and Laemmle a four-screen.
Council members were enthusiastic about requesting proposals and
the possibility of a new contemporary theater complex Downtown.
“It is important that these theater operators have a chance
to expand their screens if they are going to stay viable,”
said Council member Bob Holbrook. “We certainly don’t
want to lose them in Santa Monica.”
“We pride ourselves on having all the things residents want
in the city,” Bloom said.
|
