POP/ROCK - Aug. 3, 1987

The Variety Arts Center downtown, which last year filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, will be purchased by an unnamed buyer who plans to “give the place a complete face lift,” pending approval from state and county agencies and the nonprofit organization that runs it, said Milt Larsen, president of the Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts Inc. Larsen said the buyer is a longtime member of the society and Larsen’s Magic Castle in Hollywood, but would not disclose his identity at the buyer’s request. An announcement of terms of the sale is scheduled for next Monday.