Port Theatre Scheduled for a Face Lift at Age 45

CORONA DEL MAR — The single-screen Port Theatre would be expanded into a triplex and get a face lift under plans filed by its owner with the city of Newport Beach.

The Landmark Theatre Corp. intends to refurbish the 925-seat Port and split its spacious balcony area into two 100-seat theaters, while leaving its first-floor seating configuration much the same, said Christie Teague, an associate city planner.

The reconstruction would eliminate about 100 seats from the balcony area only, Teague said. Refurbishment plans include new wallpaper, carpet and lighting fixtures.

The city’s Planning Department has not yet issued a permit for the theater’s reconstruction, but “we have no reason to think it’s not going to happen,” Teague said. She could not say when a decision would be made.

Landmark Corp. officials could not be reached for comment about the plans.

The 45-year-old theater, long an unofficial local landmark, has been a magnet to fans of foreign and limited-release films. Last summer, a spokesman for the Los Angeles-based Landmark Corp. told The Times that company officials wished they had more theaters playing such fare in Orange County because the Port did “very good business.”

Indeed, the number of local cinemas showing foreign or limited-release films recently grew with the opening of Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc.’s Rancho Niguel 8. The new Laguna Niguel outlet occasionally screens these films.

Other such venues include the Bay Theatre in Seal Beach, Cinemapolis in Anaheim and Edwards South Coast Plaza Village.