The Carlsbad Theater opened its doors on Feb. 8, 1927. The first film shown was “It,” starring silent screen star Clara Bow.
The theater featured a full stage, orchestra pit, and pipe organ. Over the years, the theater showed other black-and-white silent movies and Vaudeville shows. It was a treasured part of Carlsbad’s history, according to the city of Carlsbad.
“It's really important that we acknowledge old buildings and arts,” North County resident Kari Kliman said.
She thinks Carlsbad should follow the European model and preserve the building.
“We tend to tear them down and let them go into disrepair,” Kliman said.
The 99-year-old theater has been sitting empty for years and now the city of Carlsbad is looking for ways to save it. The Carlsbad City Council recently approved a motion to explore preserving the building. It is privately owned.
“I think that would be great if the city owned it and maintained it, and then it could be a nonprofit arts organization that could run it,” Kliman said.
The theater is located in Carlsbad Village, the district represented by Councilmember Melanie Burkholder, who introduced the motion.
“This issue has been very popular with the community to save the theater, to get the city involved,” Burkholder said. “But what we don't have is any information about it.”
She’s hoping city staff will be able to gather information and bring the motion back to the council for discussion.
RAF Pacific Group, the current owner of the building, has been unsuccessful in selling or leasing the building since it bought the theater in 2017.
“This would be a good time to have the city staff explore what this actually means,” Burkholder said.
Under an amendment to Prop. H, the city is prohibited from spending more than $3 million to acquire or improve property without a vote by residents. Burkholder thinks the building value is under that limit, but the city won’t know until staff comes back with information.
While the city is looking at options to possibly save the theater, one community is looking at ways to make this a hub for movies, theater and live music.
“It was the original kind of artistic cultural center of the city,” said Nate Larson with the group Save the Carlsbad Theater.
When the group heard that the current owner wants to turn this spot into a restaurant and retail space, they started spreading the word.
“So we reached out to the City Council. We reached out to the planning department and thought that the city would be the perfect person to take the theater over,” he said.
There are plenty of restaurants and shops in the Village, Larson said. What the community really needs is a cultural hub.
“For the sake of the city, for the sake of the community, we want to keep this a theater,” he said.
The city says there’s no timeline on when staff is expected to present their findings. But it probably will not be in time for the theater’s 100th anniversary next year.
