Has Jack O’Halloran’s Long Beach Studios fallen victim to the curse of Columbus? Briefly, he says

Today—Monday, for about four more hours—is Columbus Day: a federal holiday for 75 years, and a time for reflection which seems to have prolonged the, er, shooting schedule for the still-percolating Long Beach Studios deal.

That’s right: despite glad tidings from the Press-Telegram this past weekend—a story paraphrasing Jack O’Halloran, the Studios chairman, as saying he’d positively be inking a contract Monday—there’s still no signed deal between The Boeing Company and Long Beach Studios.

The proposal, generally, is still—as it has been for more than a year—for O’Halloran and company to develop what’s been reported as a $375 million film studio, on 77 acres of Long Beach land where workers built the Boeing 717 airliner just three years ago.

And, according to a Saturday story from the P-T’s Paul Eakins, the deal seemed all but done. Here’s his lede:

“Long Beach Studios Chairman Jack O’Halloran said he expects to sign a deal with Boeing on Monday to develop a $375 million movie studio at the 77-acre site, which ceased production in 2006.”

Unfortunately this Monday happened to be Columbus Day—a federal holiday which we’ve observed since 1934, in honor of the storied explorer and official America-finder Christopher Columbus.

“We really can’t comment on this until it’s signed. I’ve been trying to tell these guys” that, O’Halloran said when I called him at 10 a.m. Monday, and meaning the other anxious media he’s been talking to. “Today is Columbus Day.”

He said that again when I reached him shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, which was fair; this must have been his longest Columbus Day ever.

“Nobody works on Columbus Day,” O’Halloran said—and I informed him that actually, everyone I knew had had to work.

“Lawyers don’t,” the studio chief said, and there was the rub.

“We need a contract to ink,” O’Halloran said. “All we need is a contract.”

There it seems to rest. For the night. O’Halloran reiterated that we should give him 48 hours, which would mean we might expect some results by late Tuesday? Or early Wednesday?

“It could be,” he said Monday night.

A Boeing Company spokeswoman was slightly less specific, as per company policy.

“If there is [a deal], I haven’t been made aware of it. The official word is that the property fell out of escrow in March, and we’ve continued to work with Long Beach Studios. We’ve continued to work with other interested parties as well,” said The Boeing Company spokeswoman Debby Arkell—and no, she wouldn’t say how many parties, or whether one of them might be electric car maker Tesla Motors.

“At this point,” Arkell said—and this was early afternoon Monday—“we’re still out of escrow.”

Tags: Boeing 717, California, Debby Arkell, jack o'halloran, Long Beach, Long Beach Studios, Paul Eakins, press telegram, Southern California, The Boeing Company, The District Weekly, Theo Douglas