Atlantic Theater's Fate Hot Topic In EIR Debate

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Oct 23, 2009 (Grunion Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- HOTT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The comment period for the North Village Center Environmental Impact Report ended a month ago, and the likely date for a certification hearing of that document is almost a month away.

Yet the fate of the vacant Atlantic Theater building is one of the hottest topics in North Long Beach.

The theater is in the 5800 block of Atlantic Avenue -- in the middle of the eastern block slated for the Village Center. It was built in the early 1940s, includes an RKO-style tower, a terrazzo floor in the entrance and a basic Art Deco design.

In the EIR, it is noted that the building could be eligible for inclusion in the National Historic Register. One of the three alternatives discussed in the EIR is an adaptive reuse of the building, likely as a new library and community center, with some commercial space.

But the preferred alternative in the EIR, and the one preferred by potential developer North Long Beach Partners. LLC, is to document the historic structure and tear it down. That also is the alternative approved by the North Long Beach Project Area Committee, that group's president, Martha Thuente, said.

"The EIR is strong on the idea that it should be documented to the highest degree ... and the building demolished," Thuente said. "When the EIR was presented to the PAC in August, we said we accepted the recommendation of the EIR.

"It's been possible that this building would be torn down since 1996. The new library is supposed to go in that corner... It's really frustrating for us to be held hostage by those who didn't have the foresight to save old buildings downtown."

Since a story about the EIR appeared in the Uptown Gazette on Oct. 12, historic preservationists have mounted an effort to promote the adaptive reuse of the building. John Thomas, president of Long Beach Heritage, board member of the Long Beach Historical Society and a member of the Redevelopment Agency board, said the decision could shape the future policy for the city.

"The EIR clearly sets out the position that we can meet the objectives of the project through adaptive reuse of that building," Thomas said. "There has been a cultural chasm in Long Beach where over the years we have forsaken our historical heritage in favor of development. Our default has been we can't build unless we knock it down.

"In fact, the greener and least impactful alternative would be adaptive reuse. This has the potential to show how that policy would work. I was thrilled when I read in the EIR that it was possible to achieve the objective in this way."

The Atlantic Theater was one of a series of Art Deco theaters built in the Southland in the 1940s. While the original structure of the theater and an attached commercial building remain, the interior has been adapted and reused a number of times. Most recently, the theater was used as a worship center and the commercial section as a discount furniture store.

The Redevelopment Agency purchased the property as part of its consolidation of parcels for the North Village Center (only the Auto Zone store at the corner of South Street and Atlantic Boulevard remains in private hands). According to the EIR, if the entire building were reused, it would provide about 30,000 square feet of usable space -- about 6,000 square feet less than a total rebuild. The historic building could either house part of the planned library and community center or commercial space, with the library and community center moving to the South and Atlantic corner.

"Have you been in that building?" Thuente asked. "It doesn't appear large enough. It was built in the 1940s, so it likely contains asbestos. The inside is a mess -- its been painted and plastered over I don't know how many times.

"Even if you could gut it and rebuild it, how would you get natural light in there? You couldn't put windows in without destroying the integrity of the building."

Thomas countered that current historic preservation regulations would allow renovation of the exterior as long as the "character" of the architecture is preserved. He said the reuse of historic building interiors is becoming common, and cited the loft projects at the Kress and Walker buildings downtown, as well as the Madison and La Opera restaurants, which originally were bank buildings.

He also said he'd like to see the entire structure, including the box-style commercial section to the north, reused.

"When you begin to partition it out, you begin to lose the entire mass of the original structure," Thomas said. "The furniture store was, we believe, part of the original theater as the retail component. And frankly, what would replace it? Another commercial component."

Cost, frequently a roadblock to restoration or reuse of historic buildings, shouldn't be considered here, Thomas said -- the cost has to be figured with more than dollars and cents.

"When you choose to do adaptive reuse, that is a policy decision," Thomas said. "You can't put a cost on the historical value of a building like this. When you add in the cost, or value, of choosing the greener alternative, then that means the cost comes very close.

"In the end, I don't know if it costs more or it costs less. But I do know the cost of the loss of a historic resource."

Thuente said that, if the theater or theater complex were to remain, the structure would not fit with the rest of the project. It would send the wrong message about the direction of North Long Beach, she added.

"The way you show progress is through the architecture," Thuente said. "You can't show progress by saving one old building. What we're looking at here is to build a modern block with modern architecture. That building doesn't fit."

Amy Bodek, Redevelopment Agency manager, said the EIR received a total of 15 comments, mostly from other government agencies. She stressed that the current process is to certify the EIR, not to approve a specific project.

"When the agency board is asked to take action, they are not approving a project," Bodek said. "There still have to be decisions for that to happen. What the EIR addresses is project parameters that would trigger the most impacts.

The RDA board has tentatively set Nov. 16 for the hearing date on the EIR certification. The RDA board has final say on the EIR -- the decision cannot be appealed to the City Council -- with the only recourse for those who disagree being a lawsuit.

Thomas said he already has let it be known that he will abstain from the vote when it comes before the board.

The EIR is available to the public on the Development Services Web site. Go to www.lbds.info, click on the planning button, then click on environmental planning, then environmental reports.

RDA board meetings are open to the public. The meetings are at 9 a.m. the first and third Mondays of the month at City Council chambers in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.

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