The future of the Bay Theatre, long an icon of Seal Beach’s past, has been in question for the past few years.
Trying to navigate just what will happen to the aging movie house became even more difficult last week when a sign appeared on the theatre’s marquee on the building at 340 Main Street, the entrance to the seaside village’s Old Town neighborhood.
And the sign said: “Watch for our re-opening. www.BayTheatre.com.”
It was more than just words. The announcement on Aug. 2 was a red flag to city officials, residents and visitors to the town that something serious was going on and that the theatre, which seemed to be teetering on closing down over the past few years, may have screened its last film.
“Many people have expressed an interest in making the Bay Theater an historical building to preserve it as the icon of Seal Beach that it is,” said Ellery Deaton, the Seal Beach City Councilwoman for Surfside and the Old Town area. “It is a building with a lot of potential and I support the city helping to keep the Bay Theatre a viable part of our community.”
How long the Bay Theatre will remain closed or viable is still an unanswered question. Aubrey Robinson, a former part-time projectionist at the theater, provided some clues.
According to Robinson, friction between the theater’s staff and manager for about the past 20 years, Eddy Allen, caused most of the theater’s approximately nine-member staff to quit.
“We all gave our resignations at the same time,” Robinson said. “It was kind of a domino effect. We did not like the way the theater was being managed.”
Robinson said the chips started to fall when the main, full time projectionist left the theatre’s employ after working there for nine years.
“He was so stressed,” Robinson said.
According to Robinson, Allen, who could not be reached for comment this week, has gone on vacation for a couple of weeks. She said Allen apparently decided not to cancel his time off, despite most of the staff’s decision to leave. In addition, there would be no one to fill the empty projectionist role.
Robinson, whose main job is at the Crema Café a few doors down from the theatre, said she does not see herself returning to the theater’s employ.
“It was fun working there, she said. “I got to be part of history and I learned how to be a projectionist and that was interesting.”
The Bay Theatre has stood near the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street in Seal Beach since 1947. Throughout its life it has been home to mainstream films, surfing films, and concert performances. Lately it has offered a quirky mix of independent, foreign and classic movies.
Rena Singer, owner of the 66-year-old venue, moved to Florida a few years ago. She put the building up for sale for a reported $3.3 million in 2008. So far, no one has bought the property. Singer could not be reached this week for comment.
Since the property was put on the market, city officials and preservationists have sought ways to save what some consider an historic site. In September 2011, the Seal Beach Planning Commission looked at the options for preserving the building.
The option that Senior Planner Jerry Olivera recommended in his 2011 staff report was a California “Point of Historic Interest” designation. That would require a California Environmental Quality Act review if the property in question was threatened by a project. One of the requirements of a Point of Historic Interest designation is that the building is the first, last, only or most significant of it’s kind in the city.
The Olivera report said staff considered the Point of Historic Interest designation to be the best one for the Bay Theatre. At the end of the September meeting, planners directed staff to contact the owner.
For recorded information on the Bay Theatre, call (562) 431-9988. Send e-mail to bay_theatre@yahoo.com.
Charles M. Kelly, Sun Newspapers assistant editor, contributed to this story.
