Bay Theatre

While not yet open for a regular schedule, the theater’s restoration is complete and a soft opening “sneak peek” was held on 11/23/24. Additionally, the theater will be hosting a charity fundraiser screening of the 1993 documentary “Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie” on 1/29/25.

The best way to get really accurate information on when the Bay (Beach) opened and reopened under Fox would be to check the B'Hend-Kaufmann Collection of the Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I mentioned the Herrick Library images to him some time ago in an email—and he has posted images which I remember from that collection, or else identical images from another collection. Anyway, in addition to photos of the Beach/Bay, there is complete paperwork about the theatre’s sale, remodeling and reopening, including correspondence from Fox West Coast Theatres. It may indeed be true that it opened in 1945. But there was some information in the file dating from the 1930s. Perhaps that is when it was first planned.

From LA Times, Sept. 13, 2016:

http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-0914-sb-council-20160913-story.html

The iconic Bay Theatre in Seal Beach has sat dark for the past four years, but a Fullerton-based developer with a penchant for historic buildings has recently made it his mission to purchase the venue and rehabilitate it for films, music and the arts.

With the Seal Beach City Council’s vote Monday officially designating the structure as a historic landmark, Paul Dunlap of the Dunlap Property Group is one step closer to breathing life back into the abandoned building.

Located on Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway, the single-screen theater has been a significant gathering spot for locals since it opened in 1947. It featured independent, foreign and classic movies on 35mm film for $8 admission until it closed in 2012. The noticeably large structure stands out among the boutiques and other shops on Main Street.

If all goes according to Dunlap’s timeline, he will close escrow on the $2.25-million purchase by December, and then he’ll apply for a conditional use permit and spend all of 2017 in reconstruction and redevelopment.

The building, including the interior, will be returned to its original aesthetic, sans the Wurlitzer Opus 1960 pipe organ, which was removed in 2007, Dunlap said. Once strictly a movie house, he said the theater will continue to show films but will also showcase performing arts.

Newly-discovered information: The Bay was actually built in the late 1930s. It was then called the Beach. Independently owned and operated, and designed and constructed on a VERY tight budget, it was acquired by Fox West Coast and remodeled (much improved) c. 1947.

As of November, no news of progress on hiring new staff or reopening the place. Not promising.

Their recording states that they will be “temporarily closed”.

Whay a coincidence. I was also there for “The Warriors”, and was surprised at the quality of the print for such an old movie. I had no idea it was from 1979 until I read the copyright date on the end credits. I live in Virginia, but in my travels I seek out single screen theaters to visit. I guess I live in the past, but I enjoy experiencing movies the way I remember from my youth.

I visited this theater last night and was disappointed to see that there was no curtain. There was also no side masking to close in for flat pictures. And there was a mark across the whole screen about a foot up from the bottom. A good point, however, is that the projection was excellent. It was focused the minute it hit the screen. As a retired projectionist, I am always critical of the projection. But the projectionist at the Bay gets an A+ from me.

Contact for information on sale/operation of Bay Theatre is Rena L. Singer, 913-786-7772 or

Thanks Chuck1231 for the pictures.

The links in the article are worth checking out as well.

View link

[quote]Main Street scene: Bay Theatre for sale

Seal Beach’s landmark movie house, the Bay Theatre, is on the market for $3.3 million, Jeff Collins reports in the Orange County Register. He says the theater is being marketed as a potential site for a market-savvy movie buff, but also could be converted into a restaurant, office or retail space. “It’s irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind real estate,” says CB Richard Ellis agent Joe Miller. “If someone has a vision, they can do something with it.”

Keep reading here.

Since 1947, the Bay has stood near the corner of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway, an old-fashioned movie house with vintage seating and just one screen. The theater shows independent and foreign films and weekly screenings of classic films.

Glue magnate Richard Loderhose purchased the Bay in 1975 and installed his prized 1928-built Wurlitzer organ there. The final pipe organ concert at the Bay drew a packed house in 2007, when the owner’s family donated the organ to a retirement center in Phoenix. The Register says the theater has been on the market for three months.[/quote]

A local friend has just called me to mention the Bay Theatre is on the “for sale” market at $3m plus.

Update: The Bay Theatre organ has been removed, and either donated or sold to a religious school. Though I always am disappointed to see an organ removed from a theatre, maybe this will allow the original murals flanking the original screen area to once again be seen, if they’ve survived the intervening years.