Over it’s long and diverse history, the West End Theatre passed through a “who’s who” of early Orange County cinema operators, was renamed four times, and remodeled three times. Originally one of the county’s top draws for first run Hollywood fair, the theatre transitioned in to art house booking for a time, before finishing out it’s final years as a highly controversial adult cinema. Caught in the middle of Santa Ana’s high profile 1970′s pornography crackdown and urban renewal efforts, the West End (then known as the Guild) was closed in 1978.

While standing beside an area that was ravaged by civic redevelopment over the ensuing decades, the West End managed to survive the wrecking ball. Today, the theatre is outwardly restored to it’s look of 1915, serving as home to a couple of small retail stores and maintaining some interest for potential use as a cinema once again.

Beginning in the late 1950′s, this problem became particularly palpable, as residential populations shifted towards outlying suburban communities, leaving behind the formerly thriving cinemas of urban downtown’s. A trend later exacerbated with the arrival of multiplexes and “modern” cinemas. In an attempt to circumvent the “white elephant” issue, the 60′s and 70′s saw an increase in theatres being designed as temporary configurations, which could be converted to alternative uses with a minimum of effort.

One Orange County example of these “disposable” theatres can be found in Buena Park. Today, the modest cinder block building ,standing at 7886 Beach Blvd, serves as the home for a popular skateboarding retail outlet. However, back in 1959, the structure opened as the “functionally modern” Electrovision Corp. Buena Park Theatre.

In stark contrast to the cavernous auditoriums and ornate designs of other county cinemas, the Buena Park was purposely designed “on the cheap”, with cinema specific features that could easily be altered or removed. Built for $75,000, the theatre featured a false auditorium floor (which could be removed to reveal a conventional level slab) and non load bearing internal framework (allowing the floor plan to be reconfigured readily). Even the venue’s box office, concession, and projection areas were designed for seamless removal; utilizing a minimalist approach for each. While serving up an under whelming moving going experience, the approach was unquestionably cost effective and, some forty years later, allowed for the theatre to live on as the Identity Boardshop.

The movement towards “disposable” theatres never caught on as an industry standard. While AMC utilized the idea heavily during their early 70′s national expansion (even going as far as to include ground floor projection booths in many locations), the concept transitioned more in to tighter design budgets, than truly temporary cinemas. At most, the “white elephant” issue may carry some of the blame for a generation of generic shoebox multiplexes, which plagued much of the cinema landscape throughout the 70′s and 80′s.

In an interesting bit of cyclical history, the present day exhibition industry is beginning to face the “white elephant” issue once again, as a generation of expensive, 20 – 30 screen, megaplexes become increasingly obsolete. Thus far, the reaction has been to build slightly smaller venues. However, one has to suspect it’s only a matter of time before someone revisits the idea of “disposable” theatres.

In light of the news that Newport’s Island 7 Cinema could be upgraded soon, I decided to check in on Corona Del Mar’s Port Theatre and see where the drawn out project stood.

Over two years in to the Port Theatre’s renovation and the exterior has undergone a dramatic transformation. While maintaining the Port’s classic style, textured metal plates have been affixed to the upper facade and perforated panels, with mirrored backings, have been added to the street level walls. According to the site’s construction team, the lower level mirrors will showcase a backlighting system, which will create a plum and hot pink lighting effect at night. During daylight hours, the mirrors result in an almost translucent effect (on approaching the theatre, I momentarily thought the auditorium had been razed).

The theatre’s interior remains an unfinished shell, with plans somewhat in limbo. Initially, there had been talk of creating a luxury lounge environment, with food and alcohol service. However, the owner recently backed off the restaurant and bar idea, to avoid overly involved permit and code requirements. Apparently, one of the key sticking points was the requirement for additional parking, if a restaurant/bar was included.  

While the Port looks to have made some significant progress over the past year, there remain some questions as to when the theatre will reopen and what style of cinema will be operated. Early permit filings have indicated plans for only twelve, yearly, “special events”, but these plans appear far from concrete at this point.