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Capitola Theater may face demolition soon
posted by
CSWalczak
on
October 21, 2009 at 7:45 am
CAPITOLA, CA — The 1948 Capitola Theater may soon be torn down. The theater has been closed since 2006. The current owner has applied for a demolition permit, claiming the building is mold-infested and too expensive to seismic retrofit. The city will hold a hearing to determine if the building has any historic significance.
“Some people might think it is historic,” said Mayor Bob Begun. “I don’t.”
The property is owned by a Barry Swenson Builder partnership. The current assessment is for $2.9 million, down from the purchase price of $3.75 million listed by the county assessor.
Additional details in the San Jose Mercury News.
Comments (1)
“America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again.”
Such is the fate of the Capitola Theatre.
My wife, who grew up in San Jose, has no idea of what the Capitola Theatre was or how much it meant to many of us who lived in Santa Cruz for any amount of time while the theatre was open. It matters not that I only remember some of the movies I saw at the theatre during my high school and young adult years. The theatre was a great place to enjoy a communal experience with friends and family, and could have continued to be in the hands of the right person. But the time for that to happen would have been in 1995, when Ms. Jacobs sold the theatre, not 2009.
Its time has passed, but my memories will remain for many a year, thanks in part to Cinema Treasures.