The turnout for the Oscar nomination marathon at CineArts Saturday Feb. 16 seemed indicative of the impending demolition set to take place sometime this Spring.

The entire southern portion of the Crossroads Shopping Center, located on Monument Blvd. just off I-680 in downtown Pleasant Hill, will be renovated to make way for a Dick’s Sporting Goods, according to a Contra Costa Times article.

CineArts showcased an “Oscar Marathon” over two Saturdays, Feb. 16 and 23. Five of this year’s Oscar-nominated films were screened on Feb. 16, “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Amour,” “Life of Pi,” “Les Miserables,” and “Lincoln,” while the following Saturday featured “Argo,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” and “Django Unchained.” Unfortunately, fewer than 10 moviegoers, myself included, attended the first showing of
the Feb. 16 all-day Oscar marathon, a testament to the state of decline the theater seems to be experiencing.

CineArts is currently one of the few movie theaters in Contra Costa County to regularly screen independent and art house films and it looks as though it will not stay that way for long. A Facebook group titled “Save Independent Film and the CineArts Dome in Pleasant Hill” was created Dec. 9, 2012 to raise awareness about the closing of the dome and advertise upcoming featured events at the Pleasant Hill theater. The Facebook group offers Cinemark’s contact information as advertised on the Cinemark site and encourages members to contact Cinemark’s Regional Manager with any concerns or comments regarding the theater’s closing.

Other steps are being taken to preserve the CineArts dome. A group of Pleasant Hill community members, called Supporters of the CineArts Dome, have drafted a petition to SyWest Development, the real estate firm undertaking the demolition and redevelopment of the theater’s site. The petition asks SyWest to “Please preserve the dome.”

One former Pleasant Hill resident, Georgio Sassine, has encouraged the employment of additional measures to maintain the geodesic theater.

“It is my suggestion to make the Dome a historic site and use it to generate tax revenue by playing old Hollywood films,” Sassine wrote.

Sassine suggested increasing awareness through Facebook as well as drafting a petition and canvassing Pleasant Hill for signatures.

There is still hope to preserve the iconic theater but it will require active participation within the local community as it appears the demolition will begin before the summer.

The petition to preserve the CineArts dome can be found on Change.org, a petition website designed to “ empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see,” where concerned citizens can sign:
http://www.change.org/petitions/sywest-development-and-the-pleasant-hill-planning-commission-preserve-the-cin%C3%A9arts-dome-in-pleasant-hill?utm_source=share_petition&utm;_medium=url_share&utm;_campaign=url_share_before_sign