Group Working to Reopen Movie House

With a little luck and a lot of money, the Balboa Theater will open by the end of this summer.

A group of residents had hoped they could reopen the landmark movie house on the Balboa peninsula last fall, but seismic retrofitting and a lack of funds prevented them from doing so.

“It is going to happen this year,” said Steve Bromberg, a Balboa Theater Foundation board member. “We are very confident we will meet that goal.”

Not that there aren’t some major obstacles still to be overcome.

The group still needs to raise about $680,000 so it can start the renovations. The group has hired a professional fund-raiser to tap the Newport Beach community’s vast financial resources.

But Bromberg said he’s sure the project will succeed this year because the theater group has received so much positive feedback from individuals and companies.

A need for new chairs, for instance, was met when Walt Disney Co. delivered $85,000 worth of plush, high-backed rockers for the theater.

And when the foundation sponsored tours of the theater last summer to raise money for the renovation, 500 people showed up to poke around the shuttered cinema.

Several consultants, specialists in installing lighting and sound for theaters, have indicated that they are willing to work, free of charge, to get the venue up and running.

“The community is really behind this,” said Bromberg. “A lot of people want to see this done because it will really fill a void in the community.”