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Public Eye

No Way, Jose As Eye forecasted, the Preservation Action Council will file a lawsuit to stop the demolition of the landmark Jose Theater this week. "The gist of what we'll be alleging," reveals PAC president Andre Luthard, "is that the pre-development agreement with the developer tainted the whole process and that no other alternatives (to demolition) were seriously considered." The group plans to ask the city to start the process all over again, which began 18 months ago when the City Council rubberstamped a privately negotiated Redevelopment Agency deal to knock down the theater and replace it with an apartment building. Since then, the City Council fashioned a "compromise" agreement that will reserve part of the space for public use but still guts the theater's auditorium and offers developers Jim Fox and Barry Swenson an extra $2 million subsidy for their trouble. More about the Jose Theater: Act I: The dilapidated Jose Theater once staged Al Jolson, but now faces Redevelopment's wrecking ball. Can preservationists get their act together to save it? Endangered History: Before the August vote. Preservation Action Council official web site. [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]