To City Manager Homer Bludau, the possibility of preserving the old marquee is heartening.
“It is a very prominent architectural feature of Corona del Mar,” he said. “There are many memories associated of families going to the theater, of kids going to the theater. It tugs on the heartstrings for a lot of people.”
-- South Coast Plaza got a glimpse of new high-definition technology Friday, as Disney’s Magical Blu-ray Tour stopped outside Macy’s to show movies and video games with state-of-the-art picture and sound quality.
The tour, sponsored by Panasonic, came as Blu-ray was locked in a tight battle with competitor HD DVD to dominate the home entertainment market. Both companies offer high-resolution images and theater-quality sound that vastly exceed that of standard DVDs — and both have powerful allies on their side, as DreamWorks, Paramount and Universal have opted to distribute products solely on HD while Disney and others have flocked to Blu-ray.
Whichever side ends up winning, customers at South Coast Plaza got treated to an eye-popping display, as Blu-ray set up stations inside the mall and invited customers to try out the video games.
“What I like about high-definition in a movie is you really feel like you’re there,” said Jackie Foster, a teacher’s aide from Huntington Beach. “You feel like you’re there in the middle of it.”
COSTA MESA
Council decides to wait on park
The City Council on Tuesday opted to put off a decision on building the city’s second skate park at Lions Park, after hearing from residents who worry about losing the green space. Instead of hiring a design firm to draw up preliminary plans for the park, council members voted to wait 45 days.
