AVENAL -- If it were a movie script, the story of the Avenal Theater after the 2003 fire would be a grim one at first. Once the fire was doused, only scorched artwork, sagging beams and crumbling concrete walls were left behind as reminders of life at the only movie theater in the remote Westside community.

For nearly seven years, Avenal residents have had to travel 20 miles to see movies in Coalinga or 25 miles to Lemoore.

But for residents and city officials who didn't let the fire singe their vision of restoring the historic theater to its former glory, there is a happy ending in sight.

The Art Deco tower of the 74-year-old Avenal Theater is up once again on downtown King Street, signaling steady progress made in one of the biggest redevelopment projects the city has undertaken here in recent years.

Nearly 13 months after the groundbreaking, the restoration of the historic theater is well under way. With the scaffolding still up and the construction site marked with a steel skeleton frame, there is some more work to be done. But the building is slowly taking shape.

"It was a very important building before and certainly is now," said Avenal City Manager Melissa Whitten. "It's taken on a new meaning for us. It took so long to get us where we are now. We've experienced a few issues, but we've been able to overcome them. We're truly excited about what we are seeing now."

If everything goes well, the theater is expected to completed by January or February, according to the contractor working on the project.

Insurance money from the fire and tax dollars earmarked for redevelopment allowed the city to launch a $3.8 million project in hopes of bringing the city-owned structure back to life and once again offering residents a place to be entertained.

It won't be the same one-screen theater it once was: The theater will reopen with two state-of-the-art cinemas equipped with a modern sound system, an auditorium stage, a multi-purpose room as well as meeting rooms added to the back of the building.

But the restoration of the historical structure is faithful to the original 1941 restoration drawing, said Terry Headrick, a project manager with Belfor Property Restoration.

"We're putting it all back almost exactly the way it was," said Headrick, pointing to the old blueprint pasted on the wall of the makeshift office next to the theater.

Restoration of a building like this can be delicate and time consuming in order to "do it right," said Ian Gardiner, supervising project manager with Belfor.

Just about every element of the theater is being recreated according to the old drawings.

The ticket booth, for example.

"We took the old one to the shop, and we're making one exactly the way it was. That will have the same tile and Art Deco design that goes around the bottom, which is burgundy and turquoise," Gardiner said.

All the light fixtures in the hallway, including the 4-foot-chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the mahogany candy counter and metal Art Deco fixture welded by Avenal prison inmates are also being recreated.

On a recent afternoon, the cinemas remained in rough construction.

Walking down the ramp dividing the theater into two cinemas, Gardiner explained the thoroughness of work required for rebuilding the theater.

"This is the same metal-grid framework back there. It will be (hand-trowelled) with four coats of plaster just to get the same acoustics," Gardiner said. "These curved walls will be hand plastered just like it was back in the '40s ... We're actually doing it the right way."

The Pegasus murals that used to mark the walls will be recreated by an artist from the Central Coast, Gardiner said.

The marquee as well as the ticket booth and neon that line the tower are expected to arrive in the next week or two.

Avenal's theater restoration is part of a larger vision the city has for revitalizing its downtown commercial district. Whitten says Avenal is ready to go out to bid on its downtown streetscape plan.

Still, the theater remains the focal point of the whole project.

After all, the 1930s structure is a legacy of Avenal's oil boom, and the building reflects the city's effort to keep the memories of those heydays alive.

The 600-seat theater was originally built in 1935 by Standard Oil at the height of the boom. Its operation and ownership of the theater was later taken over by United California Theatres. That's when the Art Deco theater underwent an extensive renovation. That's also when the theater welcomed a new marquee and the signature tower, giving it the appearance that was to last for more than six decades before it was destroyed by the 2003 fire.

By 1990, the theater had closed, languished and fallen into disrepair. It was the city that rescued the beloved landmark by taking over the title of the property.

The city held the title until 1998, when developers temporarily took over  ownership of the theater and began renovation. The theater reopened in 1999 and was repurchased by the city in 2000. It was an operational theater and recreational center until the fire, which was caused by a faulty electrical wire.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2429.

(Oct.17, 2009)