The State Theatre's time may have come at last.

Ron Weitzman is looking for a little cash these days--about $2.28 million. Could be a little more, could be a little less; it''s hard to say right now.

But Weitzman, as president of the State Theatre Preservation League, would like that cash sooner rather than later. Tomorrow would be good, but definitely by the end of February, otherwise the league could miss its only opportunity to buy the State Theatre from United Artists and turn it into a performing arts venue.

"I think they are going to have to sell by then and we''re going to have to buy it if they are going to sell it," he says.

Monterey''s landmark downtown movie theater, built in the Roaring ''20s, may find itself on the auction block as its current owner, bankrupt United Artists Theatre Co., struggles to cut its losses and return to financial health. If the theater is identified as one of the properties UA will sell as part of its bankruptcy proceedings, the league is one of two community organizations possibly interested in purchasing it and transforming it into a center for performing arts. The Monterey Jazz Festival has also expressed a tentative interest in the theater.

"I don''t know what is going to happen, but it seems to me we''re in a good bargaining position," says Weitzman.

UA''s Sept. 5 bankruptcy announcement caught both the festival and the preservation group by surprise. The group, however, has been working for nearly a decade to acquire the theater and turn it into a center for live performances. It also envisions the theater as a complement to the Monterey Conference Center, providing theater seating for large groups.

While the preservation group has been in talks with United Artists for nearly five years, the two parties were never able to reach an agreement. Weitzman says the theater company required that the State be sold in tandem with its annex across the street, the old Regency Theatre. And, he says, UA always seemed to be asking too much, most recently about $900,000 too much.

"They were not," he says, "anxious sellers."

He expects UA''s bankruptcy will change that. (The company''s desire to sell the theater could not be confirmed; several calls to UA''s main offices in Englewood, Colo., were not returned.)

With a business plan in hand, the group was surprised to find that it wasn''t the only organization interested in the State Theatre. In June, the board of the Monterey Jazz Festival decided to explore the possibility of creating a jazz center that could combine a performance venue with a museum.

"Our basic situation with the jazz festival is that it is as big as it can get where it is," Jim Costello, president of the festival''s board, says. If the festival is going to grow, he says, it will have to move some place larger. Among the options the board is considering, Costello says, is acquiring the State Theatre either with or without the Regency.

"Obviously," he says, "the theater buildings offer some possibilities." But, he concedes, other than taking an informal look at various ideas earlier in the summer, the festival board has been too preoccupied with putting on this year''s festival to give the matter any serious consideration.

Weitzman, though, says he has had some informal discussions with Joseph Green, the board member heading up the festival''s exploration committee, and that he believes the two organizations could work together to acquire the State and the Regency.

The preservation group, he says, is not interested in the Regency other than to sell it to fund some of the restoration and renovation work needed at the State. The festival, Weitzman says, could be a logical buyer of the Regency and, as a "primary partner" of the preservation group, have ready access to the State as a performance venue. In its business plan, the preservation group defines a "primary partner" as a group or organization that would use the State Theatre for 20 or more days a year.

Noting that the festival is still exploring many options, Green is reluctant to discuss his committee''s progress. However, he does say that acquiring the Regency alone is not an option the festival board would consider.

Acquiring the State and Regency theaters will likely be a costly venture, regardless of who is involved; the preservation group''s appraisal, done two years ago, put the market value of both theaters at about $2.28 million.

Renovation costs, which would include seismic retrofitting and changes needed to comply with the American Disabilities Act, would come to another $3.5 million. Upgrading the sound, lighting and projection equipment would cost approximately $850,000.

"United Artists has an awful lot of deferred maintenance in it," Weitzman says.

The theater, with its Moorish-influenced architecture, was designed by the Reid Brothers, prominent San Francisco architects who also designed the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego and San Francisco''s Fairmont Hotel. It carries a historic zoning, meaning that the city wants any changes in the building, either inside or out, to preserve the original look. In 1996, when it looked as if United Artists might be willing to sell the building, the city gave the preservation group $30,000 to pay for a structural evaluation and an appraisal.

"It''s a very strong component of the downtown, and it''s very important to see it used," says Bruce Kibby, senior planner for the City of Monterey.

Director of Public Facilities Carl Anderson agrees and says that access to the theater as an adjunct to the existing conference center facilities would be a plus for the city. Future conference attendees may have to walk a little further into downtown, but that would translate into increased traffic for shops and restaurants, Anderson says.

The group''s plans call for the building''s interior and exterior to be restored to their original look. The balcony, now divided into two small theaters, would be brought back to its original configuration. The group would also restore the theater''s name: The Golden State Theatre.

Anderson says he''d like to see the theater fixed up, regardless.

"It''s a lovely facility," he says. "It has the potential of being a spectacular venue."