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Community Corner

Save the Bay: A Movement to Save the Iconic Bay Theatre Takes Root

A Seal Beach man spearheads an effort to preserve the landmark theater before it can be sold or destroyed.

At the other end of Main Street from Seal Beach’s iconic wooden pier is another landmark of equal historic value: the Bay Theatre. Soon, however, the land under the Seal Beach house of indie and classic films may be sold for office space unless Seal Beach resident Robert Aguilar gets his way.

Aguilar is rallying local investors to keep the film reels rolling. He and his supporters hope to see the Bay Theatre become a protected landmark and a thriving Main Street anchor.

Aguilar’s mission is to keep the Bay a theater by making it a historical landmark, but he needs the owner’s approval to submit the request, he said. Once declared a historic landmark, the Bay would be protected from demolition. Originally listed for sale in 2008 for $3.3 million, the Bay has not yet sold.

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Richard Loderhose, former CEO of United Resin Products, bought the Bay in 1975 and kept it screening films out of love after he moved to Newport Beach. Loderhose brought a famous (and rare) Wurlitzer organ built in 1928 to the Bay for 30 years of pre-show entertainment before donating it in 2007 to The Beatitudes Campus, a retirement community in Phoenix, Ariz. After Loderhose died in 2008, the Bay was put up for sale by Rena L. Singer, his daughter.

Singer lives in Florida, a distance that separates her from the community, Aguilar said.

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“She has no sentimental attachment like her father did,” he added.

Aguilar has shopped the idea of pooling money to buy the Bay to several investors, but only a few have offered him a verbal commitment, he said. Aguilar himself is offering the initial investment, and, counting the verbal commitments, Aguilar says around a half-million dollars has been pledged.

Rena and Joel Singer, however, said they have heard very little from Aguilar concerning any offer or arrangement to purchase the Bay.

“We don’t know who he is … we haven’t had any offers from him,” Joel Singer said. “[The Bay] is still for sale.”

However, there are others in the community who would like to see the theater saved.

If the Bay were saved and upgraded, or used to host film festivals, it could become a destination and a boon to Main Street businesses, said Erik Dreyer-Goldman, president of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce. Dreyer-Goldman said he has been interested in establishing a nonprofit branch of the chamber to support local charitable causes such as the Bay Theatre that are in keeping with the chamber’s mission to support local business.

Seal Beach City Council District One representative Ellery Deaton would also like to keep the Bay a theater, but emphasizes that she would not inhibit its alteration of use.

“I am not trying to encumber [the sale],” Deaton said. “I would try to get it some sort of historic designation that would make it easier for the owner to sell it as is and for the new owner to operate it as is.”

If he can save the Bay, Aguilar has big plans for the old theater such as repainting, rewiring and putting in new upholstery. The lack of maintenance is a symptom of the Bay’s decline. To address the cause, Aguilar has ideas to improve revenue as well. Aguilar said he would like to build a café on the roof of the Bay and work with local businesses to offer dinner and movie discounts. He would also streamline the double features, pairing independent films with independent films and classics with classics instead of new films awkwardly following old. 

Aguilar hopes to establish a nonprofit organization around the cause but needs Singer’s approval before he submits the application. In the meantime, Aguilar intends to write an op-ed in the Seal Beach Sun and make a declaration during public comment at a Seal Beach City Council meeting to raise awareness of his fundraising effort.

Anyone looking to get involved with the effort to save the Bay can e-mail the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce at president@sealbeachchamber.org.

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