cinelog.org

This month marked the forty fifth anniversary of a south county theatre which barely managed to leave a discernible mark on local cinema history during it’s brief fifteen year run.

 

The Niguel Theatre opened on June 9, 1965, as an anchor for the Monarch Bay Plaza commercial development, in the, then new, planned community of Laguna Niguel. Standing between the borders of Laguna Beach and present day Dana Point, adjacent to the Pacific Coast Highway, the theatre was situated in a seemingly lucrative position; the only other area movie going destination being the Niguel’s sister theatre, Laguna’s South Coast Cinema.

 

Designed by local architect, Ricardo A Nicoli, the Niguel featured a Spanish theme exterior and 60’s modern interior. With white stucco walls, brick columns, and a red clay tile roof, the theatre closely matched the overall style of the area during the period. Inside, the 6,600 square foot cinema offered up a prototypical 60’s single screen experience, electing to focus on greater functionality, rather than design flourishes. While exhibiting a rather bland appearance, the Niguel stood as the only modern cinema, south of Santa Ana, until the turn of the next decade.

 

Unfortunately, the Niguel’s affluent location and, period, state of the art amenities never managed to capture a steady audience. After struggling as an independent for a decade, the venue was taken on by the Pacific Theatres chain, with equally disappointing results. Compounding ticket sales woes, the theatre was built at the base of a steep hillside, resulting in frequent drainage issues. Between regular flooding closures and mounting water damage, the struggling cinema saw attendance trail off throughout the 70’s. By 1980, the Niguel was deemed a total loss and quietly closed for redevelopment.

 

Today, a set of retail establishments and a coffee house have replaced the Niguel, in the northern corner of Monarch Bay Plaza. Virtually lost to record and memory, the Niguel Theatre’s very existence is commemorated by little more than a couple of black & white photos and a handful of one line blurbs in local history reflections.