Lighthouse Cinema has a new owner—and big plans.

Three months after being put on sale by the Enea family, Lighthouse Cinema and Event Center in downtown Pacific Grove has a new, hopeful owner, a P.G. dentist, a Seaside resident and property owner, Ayman Adeeb, who has been investing in the community through real estate development.

“I didn't buy this cinema just as a business move,” says Adeeb, who bought the place on July 16. “It was a personal decision. Before I moved to Seaside, I lived in P.G., raised my family there and there I have my patients. When I saw the theater sitting, in a fragile state, I knew it could be either lost forever or be reborn into something special."

The purchase price was $2.5 million, according to records from the Monterey County Assessor's Office.

The plan is to add outdoor seating, new flooring, new bathrooms and a new heating system. The concession area will be remodeled, and Adeeb secured contracts with some local beer companies to sell beer. 


Even though the Aug. 6 open mic event, The Reel Show, is canceled, the regular program will continue, also during the remodeling that will be taking place in the mornings. The current management will be kept and experienced staff will be added. 

“I hope [the theater] will become a place where people of all backgrounds come together—families, students, seniors, locals and tourists,” Adeeb says. He is not afraid of the challenge of filling a theater space with audiences in times when cinemas close and audiences direct their attention online. 

Preserving Pacific Grove’s architectural identity is Adeeb’s priority, he says. “I love the smell of the place,” he continues enthusiastically. "It smells like history. We will have ice cream, draft beer and school talent shows. I want Lighthouse Cinema to feel like home.”

Built in 1988, the Lighthouse Cinema building is part of the Victorian facade in downtown Pacific Grove. What makes the space especially coveted is its central location. Until now, the theater was in the hands of the original owners, the Enea family. Since the pandemic, the second generation of the owners struggled to make profit.