Port Theatre sold, upgrades planned

Paul Clinton

A wealthy arts patron plans to mount a wholesale renovation of the

Port Theatre, but only after the city approves a landmark theater

ordinance that would allow a restructuring of the floor plan,

Councilman Tod Ridgeway said.

The patron, Corona del Mar resident Rick Aversano, would cut a

majority of the seating, add a restaurant, bar and coffee shop, and

mount a full-scale restoration of the Art Deco movie palace.

“The message on the Port Theatre is that the ultimate goal is

creating a landmark theater that will become the focal point for

community events in Corona del Mar,” Ridgeway said. “Money is not the

object. It will be done right.”

Scott Burnham, who grew up in the area, said he quietly sold the

theater 18 months ago to Aversano, a patron of the Laguna Beach art

scene. Burnham, who owned it for two decades, said he wanted to sell

his childhood movie palace to someone who would keep it alive as

such, instead of turning it over to a developer for a mini-mall.

“I sold it probably 18 months ago,” Burnham said. “I still have a

passion to see the theater rehabilitated and restored.”

On Thursday, City Manager Homer Bludau postponed a hearing on the

theater ordinance that was set for Tuesday. Last month, the City

Council also balked on a decision about whether to grant the theater,

along with three other historic buildings, landmark status.

The new city law, if passed, would allow owners of four historic

properties -- the Port, the Lido Cinema, the Balboa Theater and the

Balboa Pavilion -- more flexibility to bring in other uses, as long

as they preserve the original use.

The ordinance would allow the new owner of the Port to lower the

seating capacity from 900 to 300, as well as adding the eateries and

bar.

The Port, which opened in 1950, has been closed for almost five

years. It was once home to the Newport Beach Film Festival, which

has, in recent years, made the Edwards Big Newport its marquee

location.

For its first four decades, the Port Theatre operated as a

first-run movie house, showing the latest Hollywood fare. From 1989

to 1998, Landmark Theatres operated it as an art house.

In 1996, Burnham obtained City Council approval to convert the

theater into a triplex.

To return the Port, with its nautical-themed facade, from the

ranks of the dying breed of single-screen cinemas would require at

least $3 million in upgrades, business leaders said.

The theater would require a new electrical system, the addition of

an air conditioning system, considerable roof and other structural

repairs and the removal of mold and mildew that has gathered inside

the building.

Other obstacles exist.

City leaders would need to develop a parking plan that could go

along with any reuse. Also, Corona del Mar’s councilman, Dick

Nichols, has derided the theater as a relic that should be torn down.

Nichols blasted the new owner’s approach.

“Why is everything being done in secrecy?” Nichols asked.

“Everything is being done in stealth. ... It is not a historical

monument. It is an eyesore.”

Bill Sinclair, president of the Corona del Mar Chamber of

Commerce, lauded the plan, even though he has said the local business

community has expressed frustration over the lack of action in the

past two years.

“That will bring more people to the village and put more shoes in

the shops,” Sinclair said. “I’m pleased to hear that and I hope it

becomes a reality.”