Curtain could fall on Encinitas cinema

By: ADAM KAYE - Staff Writer | Saturday, November 19, 2005 11:00 PM PST ∞

ENCINITAS ---- The curtain could be coming down soon on the AMC Encinitas 8 Theatres, the only multiscreen cinema in the city and one of the first in coastal North County.

The lease for the eight-screen movie house at 220 El Camino Real expires Dec. 31, officials with the Houston-based property owner, Weingarten Realty Investors, said last week. If it goes dark, so may two adjoining eateries.

Weingarten has submitted a proposal to City Hall that calls for razing the theater and the restaurants and replacing them with spaces for two large stores. One may be a Staples, an office supply business, the owner said, though negotiations are continuing. Whatever goes in would be consistent with other retail uses in the center, which include a T.J. Maxx clothing story and a Beverages & More, according to plans on file at City Hall.

The city has sent the plans back to Weingarten with orders to complete a traffic study and provide more parking with the renovations. That means that the theater, which opened in 1982, could continue to operate well into 2006.

"It is a theater we want to keep open," said Melanie Dahl, a spokeswoman from AMC's headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. "This is a place we want to be, and we have no announcement to make at this time."

A Weingarten leasing agent, however, said the theater chain has declined to renew a long-term lease because the complex is old and does not offer stadium-style seating.

Meanwhile, the theater can stay where it is while development plans are pending, said Weingarten's Neil Soskin.

All this translates into limbo for theater workers and patrons, and the owners of the two neighboring businesses.

A manager at the theater declined comment, directing questions to the corporate office.

"Eventually, it's going to close but we really don't know if it is or if it's not," said a ticket seller, who asked to remain anonymous.

Some parents hauled chirping children into the theater's modest lobby Wednesday afternoon to catch an early showing of "Chicken Little." At the snack counter, a large popcorn sells for $5 and a lineup of video games nearby had no takers.

A landscaping contractor from Carlsbad, Carl Lackey, said he comes to the Encinitas cinema all the time and prefers it to competing theaters in San Marcos and Carlsbad.

"I go to the movies at least three times a week and see all my contractor buddies," he said. "I even see the inspectors."

Beyond offering Lackey an escape from the workday world, the theater and the El Camino Promenade mall is a safe place for his 14- and 12-year-old daughters, Lackey said.

"I'm comfortable with it," he said.

Lackey said he is concerned that renovation plans for the mall would displace one of his favorite restaurants, Jay's Gourmet Encinitas.

The restaurant has operated at the center for eight years and its lease doesn't expire until 2015, owner John Moetamedi said.

The landlord has not made an offer to buy out his lease or asked him to relocate, he said.

"I wish I had more information," Moetamedi said.

He said he chose the location because he hoped to pick up customers from the theater.

Theater patrons, however, often monopolize the parking needed by restaurant customers, he said.

The future seems just as uncertain for Dan Totah, owner of Sandwich Station, which would be forced out by the renovation plans for the center.

Totah said he picked his location because of its visibility, and that his landlord hasn't offered a comparable alternative.

"They offered me a place without visibility," he said.

Weigand Plaza ---- now called El Camino Promenade ---- opened in 1982 as a six-screen AMC theater on property owned by one of Encinitas' pioneer families, the Weigands. It was in one of the first outdoor shopping malls in the now-booming El Camino Real corridor.

For decades, the acreage served as a bean field and a turkey farm, local historians say.

"When the kids go through the museum, the way they remember the Weigands is Weigand Plaza and the movies, of course," said Jan Grice of the San Dieguito Heritage Museum.

Changes evolved through the years.

In 1991, the theater added two more screens, increasing its capacity to 1,600 patrons.

El Camino Real expanded to six lanes to become the busiest city street in Encinitas.

The commercial district stretches for 1.6 miles and includes automobile dealerships, big-box stores and many other businesses.

Sales tax revenues from the district contribute substantially to the city's revenue, officials say.

As smaller theaters fall to ones with more screens ---- 18-screen cinemas operate in San Marcos and Vista, and Oceanside has a 16-screen and 13-screen theaters ---- the El Camino Real corridor in Encinitas could be left without a large movie house.

The only other movie theater in town is the single-screen La Paloma, which opened in 1928 and today shows second-run films, surf movies, and occasionally has theatrical productions and other special events.

"I hate to drive all the way to San Marcos," said Lackey, the regular at the Encinitas cinema. "It's a shame."

Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 943-2312 or akaye@nctimes.com.

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