Response #2:
Yes, and if I show you, I’ll have to kill you…
Response #3:
In the basement of the Robertson Properties Group on Robertson Blvd. in Beverly Hills, there’s an office that has all the original Warner Hollywood blueprints.
The Nederlander group was in the theater about two years ago. They did an extensive engineering evaluation of the building and either came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t work, or perhaps couldn’t come to agreement with the Pacific’s owners.
There’s still the issues of: asbestos, no heat, poor air conditioning, opening the balcony again, the elevator(s), handicapped access, parking, all new wiring, etc.
If you add in modifying the trapezoidal stage, jackhammering the orchestra pit and current booth space, refurbishing the “cast” rooms, new seating, and generally bringing the place up to contemporary standards it would cost a fortune that even assistance from the Hollywood Redevelopment agency couldn’t support.
To Ken MC: Nice picture, but I’ve got news for you. That’s not the Warners/Hollywood Pacific. There’s no place in the building that looks like that. Must be some “other” Warner site.
Mark:
I’ve got a half-dozen post-earthquake pics of upstairs and 2.2 Gigs of other recent and historic pics of the place (palace?). How can I get them to you?
Thank you for the link to the aerial photo. I can make out my car sitting in the back parking lot.
What you can’t make out from the photo is that the auditorium is a roughly 100 foot diameter circle. And yes, it’s canted at about 45 degrees to the front entrance which does make the stage box roughly triangular. Pacific/Robertson Properties Group did take some care over the years to protect some of the original features. They supposedly covered the Italian murals with sheet rock to protect them, so they should be able to be uncovered and restored. Most of the plaster castings are still intact behind the drapes.
But, unfortunately the theater is abandoned and awaits it’s future. One thing is certain: only a lot of money and a love for the history of the building will save it. (also, a good respect for the ghost!)
See my comments for the last few years.
There is no screen, just a frame. All the speakers and projection equipment have been removed. The seats are all still there both downstairs and in the two upstairs auditoriums (the former balcony). The elevator has been “dead” since 1994.
There’s working A/C in the booth and Jack Warner’s old office but the main A/C is pretty inefficient and there’s no heat in the main hall.
Right now, everything is gathering dust, but if one of two potential tenants comes to agreement with the owners the palace may just get renovated with help from the Hollywood Redevelopment Agency.
On their own, the owners, Robertson Properties Group, will not do anything about the building.
The way I heard it, when she was an usher at the Warners in 1947, she wouldn’t let some customers in during the last few minutes of a Hitchcock film. Her boss, the manager, got so upset with her he fired her on the spot and tore the epaulettes off of her uniform.
Since that was the only job she was ever fired from, when she got her “Star” on the Walk of Fame, she had it put right in front of the Warner theater to snub her nose at the place.
The screen at the Hollywood Pacific, site of the Digital Cinema Lab for the Entertainment Technology Center at USC, has gone dark. After 6 years of testing, demonstrations, and industry screenings the Laboratory is closed and will vacate the building by the end of this October.
It has been a wonderful run and I’m proud to have been a part of it since the beginning. In that time we’ve shown over 115 features and independent films, 99% in digital form; over 175 clips and shorts as part of demonstrations and special exhibitions; ands we played host to many diverse conferences and meetings.
There is some talk of the theater being renovated but that’s between the owners and a new lessee.
Goodbye to all who have been our guests,
Paul Miller
This is all hypothetical but the L.A. Conservancy may well require the return of the theater to a full live stage with orchestra pit, etc., which moves the venue to something other than a strictly cinema theater. A performing stage has to look to different kinds of bookings and the success of the Pantages, for example, was predicated on shows like “The Lion King†to justify a major restoration. The Pantages is 4 blocks away. What comparable stage events or shows, can compete and draw audiences that aren’t being served right now.
On the other hand Arclight has 14 movie screens, the Chinese has 7, the El Capitan has one, and the Egyptian has 2 – all with a few blocks of here. There are additionally several other closed-up movie houses on the Boulevard. So movie screens are pretty saturated in this neighborhood.
That’s why I doubt the return on investment looks very attractive to potential buyers of the building. With Pantages so close, and Hollywood and Highland’s Kodak Theater a stone’s throw in the other direction, and the other movie screens nearby, what new shows will draw a crowd?
The Red Car doesn’t run here anymore, the subway is 4-7 blocks away in either direction, and everyone drives in L.A. Hence the parking problem.
What this town needs is another Paul Allen with a big heart for “theater†and “deep pockets†for changing and rebuilding. Until someone like that comes along, I’m afraid this place. will still be “the treasure that once laid withinâ€.
My comment about the parking structure was based on a couple of issues and assumptions.
First: There is a parking lot directly behind the building which could accommodate maybe seventy cars if they had no other business. At best during a normal day there would be perhaps 10-20 spaces available should the theater fully reopen. And on Tuesday through Saturday evenings, that same lot is packed and, in fact, also uses a valet service to handle all the cars for a night club that adjoins the property. There is also a small lot directly across the street which holds even fewer cars that will ultimately be made into a private lot for an apartment building that is being restored.
Second: Yes, I’d assume Hollywood/L.A. government would require additional parking spaces be made available on this same block for a project of this magnitude. I’m further assuming that the “grandfathered” parking requirements from the original 1928 construction will be looked at with a fresh eye.
Third: I’m sure ADA access requirements will make some kind of parking structure pretty much a requirement to permit obstacle-free access.
There are, in fact, several moderately sized lots within a 4-6 block radius. If you assume that the reopened Pacific would have 2500 seats, and 2.5 people per car travel here, that’s still another 1000 cars coming to Hollywood that haven’t done so in the not-so-distant past. When the Hollywood and Highland complex got rebuilt which includes the Chinese theater, parking was included; when the Cinerama Dome was rebuilt and turned into the Arclight Complex a parking structure replaced a large piece of flat land.
I just don’t think that whoever takes this place over and brings it up to contemporary standards can get away without doing something about the parking.
My July ‘04 comment about the restoration costing $40 million was a semi-educated guess which includes the following considerations:
A major asbestos removal project
Major structural repairs
A hazardous waste removal project over and above the asbestos
Undoing the multiplexing of the balcony into two separate
theaters
Restoring the dome ceiling
Replacing all electrical wiring
Replacing all plumbing
Replacing all heating and air conditioning
Rebuilding the stage infrastructure
Flying a new projection screen with baffle wall
Providing handicap access facilities per ADA
Building a multi-story parking structure
Reroofing the building
Doing a complete acoustical redesign while not destroying the
historic appearance
All of these repairs and upgrades must conform with Los Angeles Conservancy practices which will require consideration of the historic nature of the facility.
And those are just the most obvious issues. While other theaters may be “restored” for less money, they may have had monies invested in them over the years. This facility, however, has had little, if any, work other than the demising into a multiplex in 1979.
I’m figuring the asbestos abatement alone at $5 million and that has to be the very first thing to be done. There are three huge steam boilers and hundreds of feet of asbestos covered piping running throughout the building. You’ve got to remember that in addition to the theater itself, there is a four story office building and a number of small stores within the outside walls of the building, all of which will require attention.
It is certainly doubtful that after such a restoration of a 2500+ seat facility, with both stage and screen, you could effectively recover the costs of renovation. I’m sure that’s why it had been dormant all those years.
We are using it for our purposes of testing and research and occasional special screenings without having to go into the infrastructure. Someone else that wants to reopen it, won’t have that freedom.
The “Collateral” screenings are not open to the public; they are for the press and for the Cast & Crew of the movie.
Actually, we’ve been holding special studio screenings for a number of years but we are not open to the public. We’ve had thousands of people enjoy the latest in Digital Cinema projection here since that is our speciality.
Restoration is really not an option unless someone comes along with “very deep pockets”. It would cost in excess of $40 million just to bring it up to acceptable conditions. We know of no one willing to spend that kind of money for what may be a very low return.
As noted above, the Hollywood Pacific theater is in daily use for special testing of the future Digital Cinema technologies. It is the site of the “Digital Cinema Laboratory” of the Entertainment Technology Center a research group of the University of Southern California. The projection systems are all “state of the art” and have been viewed by many Hollywood insiders. Occasionally, the Entertainment Technology Center hosts Digital Cinema screenings for industry people and there have been a number of special events and film festivals hosted there. For more information go to: www.etcenter.org
Response #1:
Yeah, what’s it worth to you…
Response #2:
Yes, and if I show you, I’ll have to kill you…
Response #3:
In the basement of the Robertson Properties Group on Robertson Blvd. in Beverly Hills, there’s an office that has all the original Warner Hollywood blueprints.
How bad do you want them?
The Nederlander group was in the theater about two years ago. They did an extensive engineering evaluation of the building and either came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t work, or perhaps couldn’t come to agreement with the Pacific’s owners.
There’s still the issues of: asbestos, no heat, poor air conditioning, opening the balcony again, the elevator(s), handicapped access, parking, all new wiring, etc.
If you add in modifying the trapezoidal stage, jackhammering the orchestra pit and current booth space, refurbishing the “cast” rooms, new seating, and generally bringing the place up to contemporary standards it would cost a fortune that even assistance from the Hollywood Redevelopment agency couldn’t support.
To Ken MC: Nice picture, but I’ve got news for you. That’s not the Warners/Hollywood Pacific. There’s no place in the building that looks like that. Must be some “other” Warner site.
Mark:
I’ve got a half-dozen post-earthquake pics of upstairs and 2.2 Gigs of other recent and historic pics of the place (palace?). How can I get them to you?
Paul Miller
Thank you for the link to the aerial photo. I can make out my car sitting in the back parking lot.
What you can’t make out from the photo is that the auditorium is a roughly 100 foot diameter circle. And yes, it’s canted at about 45 degrees to the front entrance which does make the stage box roughly triangular. Pacific/Robertson Properties Group did take some care over the years to protect some of the original features. They supposedly covered the Italian murals with sheet rock to protect them, so they should be able to be uncovered and restored. Most of the plaster castings are still intact behind the drapes.
But, unfortunately the theater is abandoned and awaits it’s future. One thing is certain: only a lot of money and a love for the history of the building will save it. (also, a good respect for the ghost!)
See my comments for the last few years.
There is no screen, just a frame. All the speakers and projection equipment have been removed. The seats are all still there both downstairs and in the two upstairs auditoriums (the former balcony). The elevator has been “dead” since 1994.
There’s working A/C in the booth and Jack Warner’s old office but the main A/C is pretty inefficient and there’s no heat in the main hall.
Right now, everything is gathering dust, but if one of two potential tenants comes to agreement with the owners the palace may just get renovated with help from the Hollywood Redevelopment Agency.
On their own, the owners, Robertson Properties Group, will not do anything about the building.
Paul Miller
That’s the “Sunshine” version.
The way I heard it, when she was an usher at the Warners in 1947, she wouldn’t let some customers in during the last few minutes of a Hitchcock film. Her boss, the manager, got so upset with her he fired her on the spot and tore the epaulettes off of her uniform.
Since that was the only job she was ever fired from, when she got her “Star” on the Walk of Fame, she had it put right in front of the Warner theater to snub her nose at the place.
BTW – the IRIS is now called the FOX
The screen at the Hollywood Pacific, site of the Digital Cinema Lab for the Entertainment Technology Center at USC, has gone dark. After 6 years of testing, demonstrations, and industry screenings the Laboratory is closed and will vacate the building by the end of this October.
It has been a wonderful run and I’m proud to have been a part of it since the beginning. In that time we’ve shown over 115 features and independent films, 99% in digital form; over 175 clips and shorts as part of demonstrations and special exhibitions; ands we played host to many diverse conferences and meetings.
There is some talk of the theater being renovated but that’s between the owners and a new lessee.
Goodbye to all who have been our guests,
Paul Miller
This is all hypothetical but the L.A. Conservancy may well require the return of the theater to a full live stage with orchestra pit, etc., which moves the venue to something other than a strictly cinema theater. A performing stage has to look to different kinds of bookings and the success of the Pantages, for example, was predicated on shows like “The Lion King†to justify a major restoration. The Pantages is 4 blocks away. What comparable stage events or shows, can compete and draw audiences that aren’t being served right now.
On the other hand Arclight has 14 movie screens, the Chinese has 7, the El Capitan has one, and the Egyptian has 2 – all with a few blocks of here. There are additionally several other closed-up movie houses on the Boulevard. So movie screens are pretty saturated in this neighborhood.
That’s why I doubt the return on investment looks very attractive to potential buyers of the building. With Pantages so close, and Hollywood and Highland’s Kodak Theater a stone’s throw in the other direction, and the other movie screens nearby, what new shows will draw a crowd?
The Red Car doesn’t run here anymore, the subway is 4-7 blocks away in either direction, and everyone drives in L.A. Hence the parking problem.
What this town needs is another Paul Allen with a big heart for “theater†and “deep pockets†for changing and rebuilding. Until someone like that comes along, I’m afraid this place. will still be “the treasure that once laid withinâ€.
To Christian:
I’m pretty sure that the “KEYS” from the “Andromeda Strain” premier in 1971 went home with the ticket people and the ushers.
My comment about the parking structure was based on a couple of issues and assumptions.
First: There is a parking lot directly behind the building which could accommodate maybe seventy cars if they had no other business. At best during a normal day there would be perhaps 10-20 spaces available should the theater fully reopen. And on Tuesday through Saturday evenings, that same lot is packed and, in fact, also uses a valet service to handle all the cars for a night club that adjoins the property. There is also a small lot directly across the street which holds even fewer cars that will ultimately be made into a private lot for an apartment building that is being restored.
Second: Yes, I’d assume Hollywood/L.A. government would require additional parking spaces be made available on this same block for a project of this magnitude. I’m further assuming that the “grandfathered” parking requirements from the original 1928 construction will be looked at with a fresh eye.
Third: I’m sure ADA access requirements will make some kind of parking structure pretty much a requirement to permit obstacle-free access.
There are, in fact, several moderately sized lots within a 4-6 block radius. If you assume that the reopened Pacific would have 2500 seats, and 2.5 people per car travel here, that’s still another 1000 cars coming to Hollywood that haven’t done so in the not-so-distant past. When the Hollywood and Highland complex got rebuilt which includes the Chinese theater, parking was included; when the Cinerama Dome was rebuilt and turned into the Arclight Complex a parking structure replaced a large piece of flat land.
I just don’t think that whoever takes this place over and brings it up to contemporary standards can get away without doing something about the parking.
My July ‘04 comment about the restoration costing $40 million was a semi-educated guess which includes the following considerations:
theaters
historic appearance
All of these repairs and upgrades must conform with Los Angeles Conservancy practices which will require consideration of the historic nature of the facility.
And those are just the most obvious issues. While other theaters may be “restored” for less money, they may have had monies invested in them over the years. This facility, however, has had little, if any, work other than the demising into a multiplex in 1979.
I’m figuring the asbestos abatement alone at $5 million and that has to be the very first thing to be done. There are three huge steam boilers and hundreds of feet of asbestos covered piping running throughout the building. You’ve got to remember that in addition to the theater itself, there is a four story office building and a number of small stores within the outside walls of the building, all of which will require attention.
It is certainly doubtful that after such a restoration of a 2500+ seat facility, with both stage and screen, you could effectively recover the costs of renovation. I’m sure that’s why it had been dormant all those years.
We are using it for our purposes of testing and research and occasional special screenings without having to go into the infrastructure. Someone else that wants to reopen it, won’t have that freedom.
The “Collateral” screenings are not open to the public; they are for the press and for the Cast & Crew of the movie.
Actually, we’ve been holding special studio screenings for a number of years but we are not open to the public. We’ve had thousands of people enjoy the latest in Digital Cinema projection here since that is our speciality.
Restoration is really not an option unless someone comes along with “very deep pockets”. It would cost in excess of $40 million just to bring it up to acceptable conditions. We know of no one willing to spend that kind of money for what may be a very low return.
As noted above, the Hollywood Pacific theater is in daily use for special testing of the future Digital Cinema technologies. It is the site of the “Digital Cinema Laboratory” of the Entertainment Technology Center a research group of the University of Southern California. The projection systems are all “state of the art” and have been viewed by many Hollywood insiders. Occasionally, the Entertainment Technology Center hosts Digital Cinema screenings for industry people and there have been a number of special events and film festivals hosted there. For more information go to: www.etcenter.org