This is a story about simpler times, and someone who’s trying to bring them back in his own way. I don’t know about you, but I needed it what with the terror, sadness and uncertainty of the past few weeks. Larry Janss, a Thousand Oaks developer whose family’s history of building Los Angeles goes back to the 19th century, hopes to restore an old theater in Moorpark, combining a nostalgia for the old movie house of the past with some new twists. Janss, president of Lawrence Janss Co., purchased the Melodrama theater in Moorpark at a bargain price $275,000 and plans to pump another half million bucks into it before it reopens this spring. His idea is to create a local arts center that shows newly-released films in English and Spanish, children’s movie matinees, plays and concerts, all on a rotating schedule. “When you have only one screen, you have to use your one screen in many ways,” Janss said. “It also reflects my schizophrenic nature,” he deadpanned. In what he calls the “far, distant, hazy past,” Janss used to run a single-screen theater with some friends in Venice. They featured art films, second-run and Spanish-language movies, and, at 99 cents for a double feature, they would often sell the house out. Janss jokes that the salaries he and his hippie partners took, $1.25 an hour, which accounted in part for their profitability, is about what he may end up making on this venture. But his eccentric notion, made all the more unusual by the wholesale shuttering of single-screen theaters in recent years, does have some business strategy behind it. Moorpark’s only megaplex, an eight-screen Regal theater, was shut down when it failed to deliver the audience required to make any money, leaving the suburban community without a single movie theater. But, Janss figures, if Moorpark, with 55,000 people in a five-mile radius of the theater, could not support eight screens, maybe it can support one, provided that screen offers something for everyone, Janss figures. When the Melodrama, built in 1928, closed in 1999 because its owners filed for bankruptcy, Janss started eyeing it. But at a listing price of $600,000, his negotiations with the bank that repossessed it were short. “I called the banker religiously a couple times a month,” Janss said. Then the bank was bought by another bank, which had a different philosophy better to dump the property and clear the balance sheet. Janss, whose great-grandfather Peter Janss and grandfather Edwin Janss developed or donated land to build much of the west side of Los Angeles, made his move. Through the years, the theater had been seismically retrofitted and furnished with quality theater seats. But it had no film equipment and needs engineering improvements before the first movie can be run. “So the half million bucks is not an extravagance,” Janss said of the repair budget. “It’s a necessity.” Once the repairs are completed, the Melodrama will open with a somewhat complex entertainment schedule. The meat of the business will be feature films, run from Thursday through Sunday. On Wednesday nights a Spanish language-dubbed cassette will be substituted for the English version of the movie showing. (Janss hopes to persuade distributors to provide him with first-run releases, which would be affordable, even for the 300-seat theater because they are rented at a percentage of the ticket gross.) Late night horror movies or shows like the classic “Rocky Horror Picture Show” will be added on Fridays and Saturdays. And Saturday afternoons will be devoted to children’s programming. When concerts or plays are booked, they will be scheduled around the films. “One of my greatest challenges will be to make my case to the audience,” said Janss. “I don’t want to piss them off by having them come to see Cinderella and ending up with Gargantua.” “I’m hoping to open the door and have them rush right in,” he said. “The trick is, after the honeymoon is over and everyone is shaking off their hangover, will they come back?” Burbank Redevelopment Officials in Burbank have given the green light to a proposal from The CIM Group and Olson Development to redevelop the site of the city’s former police station. CIM, based in Hollywood, and Olson, based in Seal Beach, joint venture partners on the project, won the assignment out of a field of nine companies. The companies offered $5.1 million to Burbank’s redevelopment agency for the site, a 3.2-acre parcel bounded by Olive Avenue, San Fernando Boulevard, Angeleno Avenue and Third Street. Theirs was the highest offer received, said Ruth Davidson-Guerra, senior redevelopment project manager in Burbank. The proposal by the companies involves about 85,000 square feet of office space, 48,000 square feet to 58,000 square feet of retail space, 30 residential loft units for lease and 110 condominium units. Davidson-Guerra said that, in addition to their offering price, the companies were chosen because of the design of their residential project and their experience. CIM has developed numerous commercial projects in Brea and Santa Monica, among other locales, and Olson has done extensive residential development throughout Southern California. Down Under Up Here Coogia Australia Inc., a maker of sportswear for men and women, has leased a 40,000-square-foot facility in Santa Clarita to expand its distribution capacity. Coogia, which also has offices in downtown L.A. and other U.S. locations, is moving from a 12,680-square-foot facility in Valencia to the new building at 28606 W. Livingston Ave. The six-year lease is valued at $1.7 million. Chris Jackson, a broker with Grubb & Ellis, represented Coogia in the deal. Michael Stevens of Daum Commercial Real Estate Services represented the landlord, Patricia Corp. Senior reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at (818) 676-1750, ext. 14 or by e-mail at [email protected].