Plaza Theatre (also known as South Coast Plaza II & Plaza Theatre 3)
1200 Sunflower, Costa Mesa, CA.

Specifications

    Operators: National/Mann/Edwards
    Status: Demolished
    Opened: 11/25/70
    Closed: 2000
    Current Use: 
    Screens: 1
    Seating: 700 Slope (partial tiered)

Profile

In November of 1970, National General opened the Plaza Theatre as a sister venue to their South Coast Plaza cinema. Built as a free standing structure, directly behind the established theatre, the two buildings were roughly fifteen feet apart, but maintained somewhat separate operational identities; each faced a different street and utilized separate box offices. However, the Plaza was listed as a second screen (third after the South Coast’s twinning) in newspapers and generally considered a single venue by patrons.

While the Plaza’s exterior suggested a relatively small, generic, box style theatre, the auditorium was actually quite impressive. Seating 700, the orange curtain clad auditorium was broken in to two sections, with a traditional sloped floor in the front and a tiered,  “stadium”, seating style in the rear half. While this early use of stadium seating predated, what would become the industry standard two and a half decades later, the design was more the result of space limitations than foresight. A fact that was clearly demonstrated in the venue’s extremely shallow lobby and undersized restroom facilities. Despite the property’s restraints, the theatre was designed with an emphasis on the auditorium, creating one of the era’s more notably functional venues.

Shortly after Mann Theatres purchased National General, in 1975, the older theatre was twinned, resulting in the Plaza II being renamed the Plaza III. Fortunately, the Plaza was not remodeled, as were most of Mann’s National General acquisitions (usually in a less than agreeable manner). In 1981, the theatre changed hands again and ran under the ownership of Edwards, until the new millennium. While remaining a popular movie going destination well in to the mega-plex era, the Plaza eventually fell victim to progress, with the opening of Edwards’ near bye Metro Pointe 12 theatre. After sitting vacant for nearly eight years, the theatre was razed, in March 2008, to make room for a new commercial development.

 Trivia

The Plaza opened with the feature “It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World”

The theatre had a special VIP pre opening screening of “Rio Lobo”, featuring a champagne reception with the film’s star, John Wayne. The event’s master of ceremonies was Marvin Miller, from the early 70’s television show “The Millionaire”.

Despite sitting vacant for a considerable period of time, the theatre was fully equipped and virtually “operations ready” up until the day it was demolished. 

Images

Spring 2008 Demolition

Click on images for larger view