PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SAN DIEGO, CA PERMIT NO. 1980
Vol. 102, Issue 20 • May 15, 2014
INSIDE
ENLIGHTENING LA JOLLA SINCE 1913
7-screen cinema ‘Boffo’ coming to Fay Avenue n Former U.S. Cinépolis partners envision venue screening first-run blockbusters, art and foreign films
Purpose of mystery tower at La Jolla park revealed, A3
Buttons are a bonanza for La Jolla collector, B1
ONLINE DAILY AT lajollalight.com
By Pat Sherman Though the Village of La Jolla will lose a four-decade retail institution, Jonathan’s gourmet market on June 1, if all goes as planned it will gain its first movie theater in more than 12 years in the same location at 7611 Fay Ave., catering to the discerning tastes of La Jolla film-goers. Movie theater veteran Adolfo Fastlicht and business partner Carlos Wellman, both of La Jolla, have signed a more than 20year lease with Dallo Enterprises — which owns the property and operated Jonathan’s — to convert the building into a boutique, luxury cinema complex. The La Jolla theater — the first venture for Fastlicht and Wellman’s company, Boffo Cinemas — will include seven screens with 50 to 60 leather recliners per auditorium, as well as a restaurant, bar and in-seat food and beverage service.
Guests will also be able to reserve specific seats in advance (to avoid scrambling for seating when arriving fashionably late). An existing underground parking garage and outdoor lot should provide ample parking for patrons. “First and foremost, we’re going to give the Village back its movie theater,” said Fastlicht, referencing the 2002 closure of the Cove Theatre on Girard Avenue. “But this time around, we’re going to give the Village what we believe is really the future of the cinema-going experience.” Fastlicht and Wellman say that future lies in luxury cinemas — similar to the “Platinum Cinema” concept Fastlicht created for Cinemex, a chain of multiplexes he and several of his Harvard Business School classmates founded in Mexico City in 1993. (Cinemex had 35 theaters and about 370 screens when he and his partners sold the company in 2002). The concept will also be similar to that of
See Cinema, A10
La Jolla residents Carlos Wellman and Adolfo Fastlicht discuss plans for their new theater complex on Fay Avenue at La Valencia Hotel May 5. The business partners helped launch and develop the Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas first five locations, including a location in Del Mar, which opened in 2011. Pat Sherman
Children’s Pool lookout develops by decades La Jolla’s
Lifeguard Towers Part 1 of 3 nA series chronicling the history
Secret Garden Tour of La Jolla set for Saturday, B5
of the towers at Children’s Pool, The Cove and The Shores
Editor’s Note: As La Jollans witness all three of their lifeguard towers under construction in some form, the Light decided to take a look at the history of the towers through the eyes and ears of self-proclaimed Lifeguard Historian: Captain Nick Lerma, as well as other former lifeguards. Our first installment examines the history of the Children’s Pool/Casa Beach tower.
By Ashley Mackin s another harbor seal-pupping season comes to a close (Dec. 15- May 15), construction on the nearby Children’s Pool/Casa Beach lifeguard tower will begin in June. It’s one of three being redeveloped — along with La Jolla Cove lifeguard tower and the Shores lifeguard tower — and one of three with a notable history. When lifeguarding formally began here in 1918, Children’s Pool was seen as a perfect place for a widespread view. “(Guarding at) the Children’s Pool
A
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One of the earlier lifeguard towers, circa 1986, was built at Children’s Pool for the site’s commanding views to the north and south of the Pool. Courtesy of La Jolla Historical Society
GREG NOONAN
See Lifeguard Towers, A12
LaJollahomes.com
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