Council OKs Financial Pact for 14-Screen Movie Theater

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a financial agreement that paves the way for a 14-screen movie theater to be built in downtown San Pedro. It will be the first new theater built in the 15th District--which ranges from Watts to the Port of Los Angeles--in more than 30 years.

The City Council voted to give Tennessee-based Regal Cinema $3.6 million in federal and community development block grants to build a state-of-the-art multiplex on the last vacant parcel in the long-planned Beacon Street Redevelopment Project. Regal plans to put up an additional $3 million for the theater.

Regal plans to begin construction on the multiplex in the fall. The theater is scheduled to open by mid-1999. City officials predict that the project will draw a host of retailers and restaurants.

Redevelopment in downtown San Pedro has been slow in coming over the last 30 years, said Harbor District Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr. But with the restoration of the Warner Grand Theater and the revitalization of several properties, he said, San Pedro is now beginning to see the fruits of “many people’s years of hard labor.”

“This is the final piece of the revitalization puzzle needed to anchor the downtown,” Svorinich said. “This should send a clear message to the San Pedro business community that the city is committed to the renaissance of downtown San Pedro.”