American Cinematheque, the client, is a non-profit film theater under the leadership of executive director Barbara Zicka Smith. Established in 1981 and currently located at another historic Hollywood site, Raleigh Studios, American Cinematheque screens documentaries, independent films, classic film festivals, and premieres currently on a Thursday through Saturday schedule. The organization has been looking for a permanent location for ten years. Moving from a facility on a studio lot, where patrons must seek them out, to a prime location on Hollywood Boulevard will greatly increase their visibility. Compared to their current main screening room which seats 150, they will be able to seat 700 in the main auditorium of the Egyptian. A secondary screening room will accommodate about 70 patrons.

The programming of American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre will appeal to many sectors of the movie-going public. Cinematheque prides itself on screening films which other theaters and organizations do not or are unable to screen. A refuge for the cognoscenti by night, American Cinematheque will have a special program for daytime visitors, including a demonstration of their 1922 organ and a production dealing with the history of film in Hollywood. Providing an educational and entertaining activity will fill one of the Boulevard's voids, and it should provoke visitors to think interpretively about history once they step out of the theater. The presence of a daytime activity will also increase revenues and attendance at the facility, taking advantage of the hordes of people who pass by the Egyptian during the day.

The Santa Monica-based firm of Hodgetts + Fung Design Associates are the architects for the rehabilitation and adaptation of the Egyptian. The firm has extensive experience with entertainment industry clients, including MCA and Disney, and their involvement with American Cinematheque has spanned ten years of the theater's search for a permanent home. Eric Holmquist of Hodgetts + Fung is the project architect of the design team challenged to adapt the facility to the needs of Cinematheque, inserting a modern auditorium into the Egyptian's historic shell and creating spaces for additional uses, while establishing a respectful dialogue with the historic structure.

The rehabilitation will also require engineers to stabilize the concrete frame and its hollow clay tile infill. When the Northridge Earthquake struck Hollywood in January of 1994, failure of the hollow clay tile caused the most distressing damage to the auditorium itself. For months, giant holes were visible in the side walls. The water damage from this catastrophe caused additional damage to that from the shaking of the earthquake. Problems associated with the structure continue to make themselves evident, and Englekirk & Sabol Consulting Structural Engineers, Inc. have been retained to mitigate these conditions.

The project team was assembled from firms which have worked together in other historic buildings, historic theaters, and new theaters in Los Angeles. Turner Construction Company, which has a division dealing with both small projects and historic projects, brings to the Egyptian both the expertise of a national company and the special attention needed for a project with so many competing factors at work. Turner's related work has included the Wiltern Theater and the adjoining Pellissier Building in Los Angeles; the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood; and the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The Ratkovich Company, the project managers of the present project, collaborated with Turner on some of these projects, including the Wiltern and Pellissier Building which are owned by the Ratkovich Company. Contemporary theaters constructed by Turner include those for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and for Warner Brothers Studios on the lot.

An important part of the equation in any project like this is the preservation consultant, who is often described as the advocate for the building. Historic Resources Group, whose offices are located a short walk from the Egyptian, is represented on the project team by preservation architect Peyton Hall, AIA and architectural historian Christy Johnson McAvoy. Their other theater projects have included the Fillmore Towne Theatre, Miles Memorial Playhouse, and Orpheum Theater in Wichita, Kansas. Peyton Hall, then with the John Ash Group, also worked on the above-mentioned Alex Theatre with Turner Construction and the Ratkovich Co. Historic Resources Group brought previous expertise to the project, having completed an Historic Assessment Report for the Egyptian in 1991 with the architecture and preservation firm M2A, who are also based in Hollywood.

Among the preservation consultant's responsibilities are knowing the history of the building and the historic importance of its component elements and spaces. The preservation consultant provides technical assistance regarding the protection and treatment of historic materials, finishes, and surfaces. Through application of the State Historic Building Code, the preservation consultant also advises the team on how to deal with structural and life safety systems in a way that does not interfere with the building's integrity. In addition, preservation architect Peyton Hall is the primary contact with the decorative arts conservator and the decorative painting and plaster specialist, as well as with a dealer and replicator of historic hardware who may join the team.

The decorative painting was one of the most prominent features defining the character of the theater, but it was also the most ephemeral. The Egyptian motifs and figures of the ceilings, forecourt walls, and inner lobby have mostly been painted out or poorly repainted. Conservators Tatyana M. Thompson and Associates and decorative painters from Windsor Painting Studios will test cleaning and recovery techniques, uncover and preserve surviving original layers to the extent possible, and recreate the effects once found on many surfaces within the forecourt, lobby, and auditorium.

The project team conducts weekly meetings in a trailer in the shadow of the hulking stage house of the auditorium. Held since an early point in the planning process, these meetings have several advantages. Early meetings involved the entire team in order to include many voices during the "value engineering" and estimating processes. Another early meeting was a coordinating session to avert conflicts between the various systems, including any interference with important elements of the historic fabric.

The fact that the meetings are held on the project site means that many questions which arise can be answered first-hand by a short walk out the door and onto the site. Also, the building is constantly changing in the course of selective demolition. The meetings allow a close eye to be kept on this process, and give the team the opportunity to evaluate the often unexpected information that is constantly being uncovered. The weekly meetings provide more than just a chance to report on construction progress. The frequency of the meetings expedites the process, since everyone is given tasks to which they will be accountable within a week. Constantly, information is fed and ideas are exchanged.

Funding for this complex and multidisciplinary project comes from several sources. The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) owned the building and was planning to repair it themselves, while Cinematheque would lease it for their use. However, after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, the city sold the building to American Cinematheque in the Fall of 1996 for a nominal $1.00 and provided a grant of $3 million towards its repair. The CRA also loaned Cinematheque federal funds from the Commercial and Industrial Earthquake Recovery Loan Program in the amount of $2 million. The project is expected to cost $9 million, the remainder of which will come from fundraising efforts and existing equity. The prominence of the building and the large size and high technical level of the auditorium will make the Egyptian a popular rental spot for premieres, press screenings, and receptions; this is one of the ways in which a non-profit company can sustain itself financially in such a facility.