Walking past Costa Mesa’s bustling Orange County Performing Arts Center this evening, I took a shortcut which unintentionally brought me to a site of cinema loss and waste.
This grass covered clearing was once a movie going Mecca for Orange County, the South Coast Plaza Theatre. Some two decades removed from the “Westwood of Orange County” glory days and over a year since the complex was razed, the, now empty, lot’s past is a forgotten footnote for most. The former place of countless cinematic memories and shared experiences relegated to little more than convenient shortcut and office break area.
I imagine the lot’s vacancy is temporary; merely awaiting a rebound in the real estate market, so yet another glass and steel office tower can be erected. However, I can’t help but reflect on what a waste the demolition was. As healthy business flocks to the neighboring performing arts center, for a live version of “Peter Pan”, or travels a few miles to the sub par Metro Pointe 12, for a screening of “The Social Network”, there just as easily could have been a grand cinema here, offering up it’s own unique experience.
Tags: No Comments
