Menlo council cool on movie theater subsidy Menlo council cool on movie theater subsidy (March 10, 2004)

By Rebecca Wallace
Almanac Staff Writer

The mood was decidedly mixed March 2 at a Menlo Park City Council study session on the future of the shuttered Park Theatre.

While several council members said they'd hate to lose the 1940s theater, they were reluctant to spend city money and resources to help reopen it. Ultimately, they opted to bring the matter back at an April priority-setting session to, as Councilwoman Lee Duboc said, "see what we'd have to give up to prioritize this."

Theater owner Howard Crittenden, who evicted tenant Landmark Theatres in 2002 in hopes of finding a more lucrative tenant, had asked for the study session.

In a letter to the council, he raised several possibilities, including having the city pay an annual subsidy of $91,000 or a one-time payment of $910,000. Another was to have the city allow him to sell his unused building capacity on the site to another property owner.

Speaking for Mr. Crittenden at the study session, developer John Baer said that small theaters like the Park are difficult to keep afloat because of competition from large cineplexes. Mr. Baer himself replaced the Laurel Theater in San Carlos with apartments and office space.

Therefore, if the council feels that the Park is a community asset, perhaps the city should help ensure its future, Mr. Crittenden wrote.

Addressing the council, resident Frank Carney wondered whether it was appropriate for a city to "subsidize a private project."

He said, "I'm a movie-lover, but this raises all kinds of questions."

Another member of the public urged the council to help save the theater, saying, "I can't think of another distinctive building in Menlo Park."

Regardless of whether the final plan is to reopen, remodel or replace the theater, it seems likely that an assessment to determine its historical significance will be needed.

"If there was no change in the physical attributes of the building, an assessment would not be needed," City Attorney Bill McClure said after the meeting. "But you might need one anyway, because the facility has been closed and might need some work to reopen it."

If all or part of the building is deemed historic, the review process for changes to the theater would become much stricter, Mr. McClure said.

Mr. Crittenden tore down the Park's sign after closing the theater, but the city took no action against him because there has been no assessment and therefore no official determination whether the sign is historically significant, Mr. McClure said. The owner has agreed to "retain and preserve the sign," he added.

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