October 21, 1997

Hollywood's dome theater being saved

Journal staff

LOS ANGELES - The Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard at Vine Street in Hollywood will be the centerpiece of a new retail and entertainment center to be developed by Pacific Theatres.

Neil S. B. Haltrecht, vice president of Pacific Theatres Realty Corporation, a division of Pacific Theatres said, "We're extending the billboard tradition of Sunset Boulevard and blending it with the energy of Times Square to create a destination that will be as exciting for Angelenos as for the millions of visitors who come to Hollywood each year."

The tri-level center will sit on 5.75 acres bounded by Sunset Boulevard, Vine Street, Ivar and De Longpre avenues. It will total 245,000 square feet, with 63,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space, a 55,000-square-foot health club; 26,500 square feet of office space; and 100,000 square feet of Pacific Theatres space including the Cinerama Dome. Parking is planned for 2,000 vehicles on-site.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for spring 1998 with the opening planned for late 1999.

Haltrecht noted that the center is located in an area of the city that is underserved in retail and entertainment.

Cinerama Dome Entertainment Center, designed by Gensler Architects, will emphasize the art deco themes of Hollywood's earlier days. The large billboards for which Sunset Boulevard is famous will be incorporated into the center along the structures facing the boulevard. Entertainment images will be projected onto the dome and famous stars will be showcased on giant posters at each corner of the project.

The historic concrete geodesic dome theater will be renovated to serve as the hub of the new center. The upgrade will include installation of state-of-the-art sound systems and technologies, and new seating that will accommodate close to 1,000 moviegoers. Fifteen new theaters will be added, three of which will accommodate 500 patrons each. Overall, the center will have 5,400 movie seats.

Opened in November 1963, the Cinerama Dome is the only geodesic dome built entirely of concrete. Rising more than 50 feet at the center, the dome is designed with hexagonal and pentagonal shapes that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. The entire structure weighs 700 tons and is supported by a 16-foot-high circular base that is almost a foot thick.

Cinerama Dome pioneered stadium seating, which has become the preferred style of movie seating three decades later. It opened with the premiere of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and most recently showcased the premiere of "Men in Black."

Pacific Theatres started as a drive-in theater exhibition company in 1946. Today it has more than 300 screens, both walk-in and drive-in, throughout California and Hawaii. It formed Pacific Theatres Realty Corp. in the early 1990s to manage, acquire, and develop retail, office, industrial and entertainment projects. The company is currently under development on close to two million square feet of real estate in its portfolio.