As we have all agonized over the long standing fight for a performing arts center (PAC), it brought to mind the little known fact Sun City at one point had a 437 seat movie theater. Just about perfect when you consider the arguments for more or less seating. The theater was located in the La Ronde shopping center and lasted 14 years. It not only showed movies, but it also was home to anyone needing this type of venue to be rented out. One of the articles mentioned a church used it weekly until their new new building was built. I do love the nostalgia of our history and so this morning i started digging through the newly digitized files on the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum website. This particular cabinet was Sun City A-C (Alco theater). I cut pasted a photo on a Facebook group this morning, printed below is one of the articles from June 4, 1990 from the Daily News Sun. Enjoy: A Landmark No More The Alco theater was a landmark for 14 years in Sun City - its only movie house and once very popular. Now it's gone. . Movies have changed, but the Sun City audience hasn't; they're retired and remember another day when films were less violent and less vulgar in the language used - and dealt with real life, but with innuendo rather than specificity in regard to love and sex. Lately, few of today's movies have filled the bill for Sun Citians, and as a consequence, attendance at the Alco has dropped so far down that United Artists decided to drop the lease. No blame to. United Artists; the company is not in business to underwrite a 437-seat theater where some nights no one showed up. Obviously, in addition to Sun Citians' preferences, there were other attractions such as regular and cable television, and other local entertainment as well. So Sun Citians probably will not lament the loss of the Alco as they did the loss of the Sun City Stadium a few years back. They can still see movies on television and good old-time cinema at recreation centers programs. But there's still 'the question of what will happen to the Alco theater space. Rumor already has it that the theater will be converted into a dress shop. Somehow, that seem's a shame, when you have a stage and a 437-seat auditorium just sitting there. For a long time now, the Sun City Players little theater group has longed for a home. They've been staging their plays at Mountain View Auditorium, but that has a flat floor, folding chairs and is rather large for intimate theater . In addition, there are musicians and singers, individual and groups performing in church halls and wherever they can who might relish the idea of presenting their talent in a real theater. And, of course, there are political meetings, forums, lectures and others who might appreciate having a central and well-known hall to use. Maybe somewhere in Sun City are people, entrepreneurs who can envision such an all-purpose hall being of benefit to the community through a variety of presentations rather than just movies - although an occasional movie wouldn't be amiss, either. Wouldn't it be interesting if they formed a corporation to rescue the Alco with private funds and public subscriptions, and turn it into Sun City's special presentation hall. Let me reprint that last sentence to let percolate as we ponder the future of the PAC: "Wouldn't it be interesting if they formed a corporation to rescue the Alco with private funds and public subscriptions, and turn it into Sun City's special presentation hall."
La Ronde is a MOB now. What space would be proposed for the theater? Does that mean we are back at square 1 meaning Viewpoint Lake? Just a question, nothing more, nothing less.
A good article by you in the Independent this week Tom and the Sundial auditorium has to be high on list of options for the Players. I know some have just argued the only problem is scheduling, that is no small task. It is the one flat space we use well in Sun City. Which i would argue is reason to have a second flat space similar in size and with multiple options for utilization. There are just some things in Sun City that need the large open area. The two most obvious are Bingo and the annual craft fair. Both stretch the walls beyond capacity and there is little wiggle room to downsize or move. The craft fair is for one two-day period (a couple more for set-up and take down), but it's timing is good with little competition for the space. The Sundial Men's bingo is a whole other issue. Losing any tables would impact them. They run almost every Thursday night other than during their summer break. They have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to organizations that need the money. It can't be treated lightly. After that, with maybe the exception of some dances, line dancing and an occasional big ticket rental, i suspect much of the smaller stuff could be better distributed around the huge number of truly under-utilized flat spaces we have available. Long before anything else, i would figure out how to better use all these rooms that sit empty so many hours of the day and night. It's why adding even more without a comprehensive, strategic plan is crazy. Gary Osher and i addressed that in 2018 when the long range planning committee recommended we move forward in a way that included a cohesive use for every center. That too was shit-canned as being silliness and beyond the committees scope. Go figure.
That's why you need retractable seating. It's my understanding that the players get, if lucky, less than two-hundred. A single bank of retractable seating can easily accommodate that! As far as Bingo goes. They only use the very front part of the stage, so any props or scenery needed for a Players performance can be hidden by simply closing the curtain? Schedules change all the time and if that's the only excuse to not use SD, then I think people are being short-sighted. Just my opinion.
