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Miramar Theatre in danger
posted by
Raadg
on
August 3, 2006 at 1:23 pm
SAN CLEMENTE, CA — Since a newspaper article recently advised people to email the city of San Clemente their views about the Miramar Theater, apparently a couple dozen emails have come into City Hall in favor of demolishing the theater!
This is obviously a well-orchestrated campaign to barrage City Hall with one developer’s plans to raze the theater building.
WE MUST FIGHT BACK NOW!!
Regardless of where you are or what you’re doing…please drop everything right now and email Jim Pechous (he is aware of this and is expecting the e-mails) your thoughts about saving the Miramar Theatre building.
The Historical Society is in favor of the theater building’s adaptive reuse. There are many feasible ways to adaptively reuse the building — such as an entertainment venue, retail, offices, restaurant, surfing museum, dance academy, performing arts center, etc.
Parking is not an issue as historical structures are exempt from parking requirements. Structurally, the theater is a reinforced concrete bunker and is not unsafe by any means. It looks bad cosmetically right now, but only because the current owner is practicing eyesore/demolition by neglect.
The Miramar Theatre should not be demolished, and it’s against state law to demolish a historical building if there are feasible alternatives to demolition.
Stand up and let your voices be heard. It takes a lifetime to build history and only a moment to destroy it!
Compose your short email right now to save the Miramar Theatre and email it today to Jim Pechous at:
Your Subject Line should be something like: Save the Miramar
Sincerely,
Raad Ghantous
Miramar Committe Chair
San Clemente Historical Society
Comments (2)
AMAZING!!! No matter how hard someone tries, somebody, somewhere, will turn ones good intentions compeltely around. When it comes to historic preservation issues, the hardest part of the battle is convincing the public in general that this is a ‘qualtiy of life issue,“ and regardless if you partronize this theatre or not the well being of the communty as a whole benefits. The fact that this community is trying to perserve its hertiage says a lot about the community in a highly positive sense, the challenge becomes convincing the city commission members that this restored theatre will be more of a positive impact on the community than the "new” commercial business that potentially will replace it.
Unforturnatley this has and will always we an uphill battle, but I imagine that is just the type of challenge the individuals whom are attempting this venture are acustom to and will galdly fight.
I am an former movie theatre owner, I am an historian and I strongly urge everyone to voice their option about the preservation effort immediately. The opposition is obviously well orgainzed and must be confronted. DO NOT GIVE UP!!!!
Cheers….Joel Weide
Joel,
Thank you for your comments..I just saw them now but I was very moved and needed to say a heartfelt THANK YOU! The fight for the Miramar theater and its saving is an Iconic struggle that is not only about this specific building of local historical value…It is in fact a symbol of what we all on here strive to accomplish in our own ways…and that is to spot light that if you forget where you came from you are doomed to not know where your going!
A community that would look the other way as a historic part of its past is subject to the brutal abuse of the $elfish, $elf $erving intents of a few is no better than family members who allow an older member of their group to be allowed to wither and die in front of their own eyes while they all are too busy finding excusses for why its not their responsibility to care for them.
Please encourage all you know on here to voice their opinions, and if possible to do so by the deadline for public input date of the 17th of AUG. (thats this coming Thursday!!).
ALL PLEASE SHOULD E-MAIL THEIR COMMENTS AND WISHES / DEMANDS TO SAVE THE MIRAMAR THEATER TO THE FOLLOWING E_MAIL ADDRESS NOW!!!!
Your Subject Line should be something like: Save the Miramar
Sincerely,
Raad Ghantous
Miramar Committe Chair
San Clemente Historical Society