The 1940s-era auditorium that once screened training films on Navy protocol for young recruits and hosted celebrities the likes of Bob Hope and Nat King Cole is showing off its new $12 million look this week with the help of a modern-day celebrity: “Captain America.”
The Lot, an upscale movie theater complex and dining venue that opened last year in La Jolla, is adding its second location in Liberty Station on Thursday. An artful amalgam of the old —Luce Auditorium — and the new — a glass-enclosed lounge, bar and restaurant — the 26,000-square-foot project is the latest addition to a still evolving arts and culture district in the former Naval Training Center.
The former 2,200-seat auditorium, empty for the past 19 years, has been re-envisioned as a multiplex with six theaters, varying in size from 49 seats to 105 and outfitted with the Lot’s signature leather recliners and call buttons for food service. When it opens, most of the theaters will be showing Marvel Studios’ latest blockbuster, “Captain America: Civil War.”
An arch-covered promenade separates the historic building from a covered patio dining area with glass walls that open, accordion-style, to create an indoor-outdoor space.
Vestiges of the auditorium’s historic interior have been incorporated into the design of the contemporary movie theater lobby, such as the original oak flooring from the stage and the rectangular concrete archway from the proscenium.
“It’s a super historic building, so that in itself was a tremendous challenge,” said Carlos Wellman, managing director for the Lot. “It’s an eclectic mix. We created this glass box in front of the building to have the ability to see the archways and the promenade from everywhere.”
Films, Wellman said, will range from studio blockbusters to art house-style indie features.
The project is a good fit for the yet-to-be-completed 100-acre arts district at the eastern end of Liberty Station that is already home to dance troupes, smaller museums, a public market and restaurants.
The modern-day version of Luce Auditorium, though, wasn’t always envisioned as a movie theater. The three dance companies that currently make their home in Dance Place San Diego in Liberty Station had hoped that the former theater would become a venue for them and other arts organizations.
Ultimately, updating Luce as a performance venue proved to be financially unworkable, said Lisa Johnson, chief executive of the NTC Foundation, which oversees the arts district, in partnership with Liberty Station master developer, the Corky McMillin Cos.
“Following studies exploring the financial viability of such an undertaking, it was determined that was not a financially viable opportunity,” Johnson said. “However, I am pleased to say that a performance venue is definitely something we are still exploring, one that will function both financially but also programmatically.”
Besides movies, Johnson said she expects that the new theater will be used for presentations by local academics and community events.
“We look at it as way more than a luxury cinema,” Johnson added. “They want the community to gather here, and by the way, if you want to see a movie here, you can do that, too.”
In addition to serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, the Lot also has a grab-and-go cafe serving coffee and house-made pastries.
The luxury theater group currently is in expansion mode, scouting locations for future Lot developments up and down the state. Possible sites outside San Diego County include Beverly Hills, Laguna Hills and San Rafael. The next likely Lot will be north of La Jolla, Wellman said.
The plan, he said, is to open one to two theater venues a year.
“We’re a Southern California company and we believe this is the best film exhibition market and California has the right demographics, Wellmann added. “Liberty Station — and Point Loma — is a mature neighborhood that appreciates film and the arts. It also did not have a movie theater.”
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