Jul. 16--STUDIO CITY -- The Sportsmen's Lodge, a 63-year-old restaurant, bar, banquet hall and former fishing hole beloved by generations of movie stars, politicians and San Fernando Valley residents, will soon be closing its doors.

Owners of the Studio City icon announced late Tuesday that after failing to obtain a new lease, the Sportsmen's Lodge will close Dec. 31.

"Unfortunately, it is with a heavy heart that I am forced to face the inevitable," Patrick Holleran, the lodge's owner and president, said in a statement. "For almost a year now, we have attempted to negotiate an extension to the lease here at the lodge.

"Unfortunately, to date we have been unsuccessful."

The Sportsmen's Lodge Restaurant and Banquet Center has become synonymous with Valley life and development. In its early days, families learned to fish for trout from the meandering lagoons at Ventura Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Avenue.

Over the years, regulars would cut business deals, glad-hand politicians, hobnob with Hollywood stars such as Clark Gable within its woodsy watering hole or tie the knot within its sprawling banquet rooms.

After a failure to secure its status as a city historic cultural monument, the 11-acre site was sold for $51 million last summer to Malibu developer Richard Weintraub, son of former Los Angeles Unified School District board member Roberta Weintraub.

A lodge official confirmed that the Sportsmen's Lodge -- containing the Caribou Restaurant, Muddy Moose Bar, seven banquet rooms and ponds on eight acres -- will close.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said the lodge had turned away $3 million in reservations next year because Weintraub declined to extend the one-year lease.

"I'm heartbroken," said one of the 125 workers who is expected to lose her job.

The 200-room Sportsmen's Lodge Hotel and Patio Cafe next door will remain open.

Weintraub said the Sportsmen's Lodge had declined a month-to-month lease next year while plans for the property were drawn up.

He said he'd like to retain its historic feel while remaking the Sportsmen's Lodge into upscale restaurants and retail stores. Weintraub also wants to upgrade the hotel with mid- to high-end rooms.

Despite rumors, he said he has no plans to build condos on the site.

"We don't have any specific plans," Weintraub said, "but we do have something exciting in store for the property. The Sportsmen's name will stay forever, and so will the feeling of the property.

"There will be a strong gesture to continue the ponds and the swans. The old Valley will stay forever."

A walk through the lodge is a trip through time.

Opened in 1914 as the Trout Lakes & Lodge, the facility boasted man-made ponds, a bait and tackle shop and enough lunkers to attract early anglers.

In 1945, two brothers named Bross opened a 45-seat restaurant considered the first fine-dining establishment in the Valley. Dave Harlig, who sat down to dinner the next year, was so impressed he bought it on the spot.

The rustic dining room, renamed the Sportsmen's Lodge, would become a movie studio hangout for such stars as Gable, John Wayne, Bette Davis and scores of movie wranglers.

Over the years, its ever-expanding banquet rooms would host countless weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, high school proms and Mother's Day events.

But what really captured the hearts of residents were its trout ponds. Visitors could hook a fish, send it to the kitchen, then eat their catch along Ventura Boulevard.

"When I was 6 or 7 years old, I used to go fishing there with my family -- there used to be great trout there," said Mort Allen, a lifelong Studio City resident who opened a real estate office in 1939. "I had my high school prom there. I got married there.

"That is the historic landmark of the Valley. It's a loss; everybody relates to it. Where are all the banquets going to go?"

Holleran could not be reached for comment. On Tuesday, he appealed to residents in a statement for one last year-end hurrah.

"After more than 60 years ... we will be closing our doors forever," Holleran said. "We would like all of our guests to know that it's not too late to book one last special event and to join us on New Year's Eve for our big goodbye."

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