City takes control of Egyptian
While city officials say no decision has been made about the future tenants, one of the top contenders to buy the building is American Cinematheque.
The once-opulent venue, which opened Oct. 18, 1922, with the premiere of "Robin Hood" starring Douglas Fairbanks, has been sitting closed and empty for the past eight months.
Because the building, on Hollywood Boulevard between Las Palmas and McCadden Place, sits in the middle of the Hollywood Redevelopment project, the city started eminent domain proceedings and bought the theater from United Artists Theatres last July for $ 1.73 million.
"Right now we're committed to the building being used for entertainment purposes," said Lillian Burkenheim, CRA project manager. "But it may or may not remain as a first-run movie house."
The city plans to restore the outside of the building to its original design, then leave the restoration of the interior to the building's occupants. About $ 800,000 has been set aside for the restoration.
The theater's exterior will be changing over the next year. Designed by the architectural firm Meyer & Holler -- the same company that designed Grauman's Chinese -- the original Egyptian motif has long been obscured and covered over by a streamlined marquee design.
"Our plan is to remove the outside facade, the marquee and the canopy that goes down the middle of the courtyard," Burkenheim said. "All of this was built later on and it prevents you from seeing the structure itself."
In addition to restoring the facade, the CRA will also rehabilitate the adjacent retail space located within the theater's courtyard.
"Ideally we would like to encourage retail ventures to set up shop within the courtyard," Burkenheim said. "Something like a coffee shop or restaurant that would set up tables in the courtyard."
The city initially sought interest from theater chains to operate it as a first-run house, but found no takers in a recessionary economy.
"It would be wonderful for another film company to come and make this theater a showcase on the Boulevard," Burkenheim noted, referring to Disney's venture with the El Capitan theater down the street. The theater originally had 1,770 seats, but was later divided into three theaters.
At this point, Burkenheim said it is not clear whether the city would lease the site out on a short-term or long-term basis. Eventually, when the economy recovers, it plans to sell the building.
One potential problem in marketing the site will be Metro Rail construction, due to start on Hollywood Boulevard next year. The Egyptian is close enough to the proposed Metro station at Hollywood and Highland to cause problems for pedestrians during construction.
"What we're planning to do is create a lot of different types of activities on Hollywood Boulevard during Metro Rail construction," Burkenheim said.
