Mesa Musings:

A few weeks back I reminisced in this space about some Newport-Mesa haunts that no longer exist.

One haunt mentioned was the Mesa Theater, which stood for 50 years at Newport Boulevard and 19th Street in Costa Mesa. Several readers have shared their memories of the place.

An architecturally uninspiring structure, the Mesa Theater was built by A. Dwight Gibbs, architect of the rather more opulent Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles.

The Mesa opened in 1948. Its owner, Mason Siler, also owned the historical — and considerably more upscale — Lido and Balboa theaters in Newport Beach.

Shaped like a large cigar box, the Mesa was painted a ghastly shade of salmon for much of its lifetime. The marquee featured large neon “M-E-S-A” letters at the top.

The $175,000, single-floor structure contained 925 seats (compared with 622 for the Lido and 350 for the Balboa). It also included a crying room (for mothers and their infants, not overwrought Bogie and Bacall fans), and a smoking room.

The Mesa Theater was operated as an independent house until 1981, when Edwards Theatres acquired it. It was Edwards’ 16th Orange County location, but ultimately became unprofitable and was closed in 1997. It was demolished a year later.

Giles Brown, a founding Orange Coast College faculty member in 1948, shared with me a Mesa Theater adventure.

“In the early 1950s, founding OCC President Dr. Basil Peterson asked me to go to the manager of the Mesa to inquire about the college hosting a program there for kids,” said Brown, who, at 93, lives in retirement in Newport Beach.

Brown probably talked with Siler himself.

“I don’t remember his name, but he was a very direct and serious fellow. I told him that we wanted to sponsor a film program for kids. He agreed to let the kids in for free, but stipulated that we permit him to open the concession stand and charge for popcorn, sodas and candy.”

Siler had another caveat.

“I was expected to remain after the program to sweep up the popcorn and candy wrappers,” Brown said with a laugh.

Nine hundred kids showed up, and the program was a success. After the place cleared out, Brown, a history professor and chairman of OCC’s social sciences division, got out the broom.

He then discovered the awful truth.

“Each of the 925 seats was individually bolted to the floor by its four legs. I was expecting a cantilevered system, where an entire row was anchored to the floor. Instead of taking one big swipe under each row, I had to sweep under each individual seat.”

It took him several hours to clean the theater. Brown never again agreed to host an event at the Mesa.

But the college continued its Mesa Theater relationship. From the 1960s into the early ’80s, OCC hosted a popular cooking school there. The school attracted capacity crowds for four weekday mornings in October and November.

Prominent local chefs demonstrated on the cinemascope screen their favorite holiday dishes and treats.

On Saturdays, the matinee audiences included mostly kids. The fare included Disney flicks, sci-fi and horror movies.

Admission, as I recall, was a quarter. Last week, I spent six bucks for a small bag of popcorn at a screening of “Avatar.” At the Mesa, popcorn went for 10 cents a bag!

The man who was often behind the Mesa concession counter was, I believe, Siler himself.

A bit gruff, he refused to let 900 sugar-fueled kids get the best of him.

On a couple of occasions I remember him stopping the projector in mid-movie, walking to center stage and telling the youngsters: “If you kids don’t stay in your seats, I’m shutting this movie down and sending you home.”

Please, not that! We settled down.

Let no one disabuse you of this notion: The Mesa Theater rocked Saturday afternoons in the 1950s and ’60s!

JIM CARNETT lives in Costa Mesa. His column runs Wednesdays.