{"id":312688,"date":"2026-05-12T22:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/312688\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T22:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:59:08","slug":"cinerama-dome-seeks-a-conditional-use-alcohol-permit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/312688\/","title":{"rendered":"Cinerama Dome seeks a conditional-use alcohol permit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A city hearing concerning on-site alcohol sales provided the public a chance to air their opinions on the possible reopening of the Cinerama Dome and ArcLight Hollywood on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

Though a final letter of determination is still to be issued, Tim Fargo, the associate zoning administrator in charge of Tuesday\u2019s meeting, said he was \u201cinclined to approve\u201d the conditional-use permit under consideration. The permit<\/a> would cover the Cinerama Dome, 14 adjacent auditoriums and a restaurant caf\u00e9 with two outdoor spaces.<\/p>\n

The Dome closed in March 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and in April 2021 it was announced that the venue would not be reopening<\/a>. Film lovers in Los Angeles and around the world have since been hopeful the venue, seen by many as a symbol for Hollywood<\/a> itself, could reopen.<\/p>\n

During the meeting, Elizabeth Peterson-Gower, a land use consultant representing the owner and applicant Dome Center LLC, was asked if there was a timeline for reopening the theaters. She responded, \u201cI too don\u2019t have a schedule yet, but when I do, I\u2019ll convey it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a separate phone interview following the meeting Tuesday, Peterson-Gower referred to the approval of the conditional-use permit as a \u201cmilestone\u201d in the process of reopening the theaters and added that ownership has noted the intense public interest around the Dome and the ArcLight and that \u201cit will inspire a time frame in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the meeting, Peterson-Gower referred to the success of the Blue Note jazz club<\/a> that opened on a corner of the property in August 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it proves to me is that the ownership cares greatly,\u201d Peterson-Gower said after the meeting. \u201cThat\u2019s a big undertaking and a big statement in favor of the fact that ownership care what\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Numerous other voices were heard throughout the hearing as well. Ted Walker, planning deputy for Council District 13, where the theater is located, said, \u201cToo often we see [historic-cultural monuments] around our city sitting vacant. So we\u2019re very supportive of anything to bring some life back into this. We know there\u2019s a lot of love for the Cinerama Dome and we want to acknowledge the work of all the community members who are advocating for it. We believe resuming these operations will further enhance the vibrancy of Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burbank City Council member Konstantine Anthony noted that he was a former usher at the Dome and also voiced support for the reopening.<\/p>\n

More than 30 people provided public comment. Among those were Kat Kramer, daughter of filmmaker Stanley Kramer, director of \u201cIt\u2019s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,\u201d the very first film to play in the Dome in 1963, film critic Wade Major and Ben Steinberg, who has led a grassroots campaign to get the venue reopened<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Blue Note Jazz Club undergoes construction near the Cinerama Dome on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

(Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

One commenter said, \u201cWhy have they kept it closed? Is this just a strategy to let it rot so that they can get building violations and just tear it down and build condos? There\u2019s a lot of fear about what\u2019s going to happen with this thing that people feel attached to. And to not answer questions over all this time has frankly been offensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another commenter said that the delays in reopening feel like ownership \u201ckeeping a bit of our heritage hostage from us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even those who were asking for clear specifics from ownership were nearly all in favor of granting the conditional-use permit, which was the ostensible purpose of the meeting. As local preservation advocate Kim Cooper said, \u201cI know that this has been hard and it has seemed like the citizens versus the ownership \u2014 that\u2019s not what it is. People want to come together and help and bring this place back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking after the meeting, Peterson-Gower noted her own history with the Dome, having been involved with many events there in the late \u201980s and early \u201990s when she was vice president of the Hollywood Athletic Club, located just a few blocks away on Sunset Boulevard.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has a story about the Dome that\u2019s lived here, even me,\u201d she added. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to bring my personal life into the hearing, but I care passionately as well about it opening.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the final outcome of the hearing is still to be fully determined, all signs point to the permit being granted and the project being free to move forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was overwhelmingly pleased with the comments,\u201d said Peterson-Gower. \u201cI think that it shows that there\u2019s a great historic use in a historic property and I think that people care passionately about it operating and are very, very proud of the property being here in Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A city hearing concerning on-site alcohol sales provided the public a chance to air their opinions on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[36487,130925,130926,23489,7084,1743,48,52,51,47,50,49,16976,130928,26178,592,130927,7215,1058,1069,19368],"class_list":["post-312688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-arclight-hollywood","tag-cinerama-dome","tag-conditional-use-alcohol-permit","tag-elizabeth-peterson-gower","tag-hearing","tag-hollywood","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-meeting","tag-near-future","tag-ownership","tag-people","tag-possible-reopening","tag-property","tag-theater","tag-tuesday-morning","tag-venue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}