California Theatre
1122 4th Avenue,
San Diego,
CA
92101
1122 4th Avenue,
San Diego,
CA
92101
26 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 152 comments
BKM, contact me at . I can answer all of those questions. There are a couple of red tape delays at this stage, but it will go on.
David, I am an investor that has always been in love with the California Theater Building. How’s the renovation going? Who are the current owners? Is the building still avaiable? Is the project for sale? Please let me know. I am a San Diego Native that has just moved back from Nevada. Thank you for your time. BKM
Thanks William. The New California Theatre did not have the old milk glass type though, but it was actually black using white lettering (there is a photo of it as well). Fox did not build the theatre, they only took it over from West Coast Pictures later. However, it may be that they went ahead and replaced it at that time anyway. I have checked, and they have no records of when it actually happened. It would make sense that they would replace them all around the same time.
One of the projects in the upcoming renovation is to restore the artwork that was atop the original marquee.
Fox West Coast Theatres remodeled many of their theatres marquees in the 40’s. In their major market areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco and San Diego, that marquee would date around 1940-41. And other chains did the same around that time. The old milk glass type marquees were looking old at that time. As Manwithnoname pointed out those are 40’s vintages cars being a Navy town, the open all night banner was another clue. Many of the theatres located in downtown Long Beach were open all night during the war.
It is steel and steel lined reinforced masonry. On the photo page posted above, there are some photos of the skelletal phase of the early construction.
DAVID, do you know what the structural framework is? steel? iron?
thanks!
-j
The marquie in the photo was not installed until 1962 according to the Historical Society. However, I have found much of their information to be flawed, and will further research the origin of this marquie. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
The album is up. You can now find 72 photos of the California Theatre at View link . Some will be ones you found also at the San Diego Histircal Society. Most will not. I shot all of the color indoor photos and most of the color outdoor photos myself.
When construction begins on the restoration, I will continue to photo-document the progress.
You may wish to bookmark the album if you want to return to it, since it will not be publically listed among my other albums for a while.
It sure is :) I am putting together an online album of photos of this theatre right now and should have it up in a couple of days. There will be a few dozen photos in this album, both recent and as far back as the digging of the foundation in 1926. I’ll post a link here when the album is ready for viewing.
Understood, buy it is a good starting point for research.
Just for info., The San Diego Historical Society (where that link is to) has many more photos than what are on the website, and they are missing large chunks of its history. I have personally gathered everything they have, and it is, unfortunately, lacking a great deal, and I had to find other sources for more of its history.
Link to the history of the theater & photos:
View link
A letter has been sent.
Hello,
I’m currently a student at Woodbury University San Diego, School of Architecture and Design. I am working on my thesis project which includes the California Theater as part of my site. What I really need is any photos of the interior and floor plans or leads as to where I could get the floor plans for the California Theater. Any information is greatly appreciated. Please send any information to
Thanks!
I have the info that is lacking, and a correction. First, it does not have 2200 seats, but 1750 seats.
Status: Closed
Screens: Single Screen
Style: Spanish Colonial Revival
Function: Vaudeville, Concerts, Silent Cinema, Early Talking Cinema, Cinema
Seats: 2200 from 1927 to 1941. 1750 from 1941 to current.
Chain: West Coast Theatres 1927 to 1931, Fox West Coast from 1931 to 1978
Architect: John Paxton Perrine
Firm: Edwards Wildey & Dixon, 1926
Perrine later went on to help design the San Francisco Fox Theatre, and created most of the earthquake safety laws for building that we have today while he was in charge of the Port of Oakland construction. All of his buildings, including the California Theatre, survived every major earthquake. He also designed one of the runways at Oakland Airport that is still in use today.
Fox West Coast took over the California Theatre in 1931, and used it for exclusively cinema, whereas West Coast Theatres has also used it for vaudeville.
In 1978, the theatre was switched to just concert uses, where it housed several concerts until 1988, when the San Diego Foundation restored much of the building to its 1927 look. In 1991, they sold it to a developer who intended to level the building and build condos. However, the building had already achieved a San Diego Historic Landmark status, and the developer gave up on the demolition plans and sold it to a preacher.
The preacher had some bad real estate dealings, and in 2002, a mortgage company forclosed on the property and building.
At the moment, some historic preservation foundations, an investment company and a theatre group are finalizing a deal to restore and reopen the theatre. Thier current timeline is an opening in 2007. It now has a water leak with extensive wall damage, and that is the bulk of the restoration work that will be taking place if the deal is finalized.
I’ve only just come across a reference to a similar plan to add a second auditorium to the Balboa Theatre, also announced late in 1941, but this one designed by Clifford Balch. The Balboa’s second theatre, at 540 seats, would have been a bit larger than the one planned for the California. As far as I know, the only theatres in Southern California whose stage houses actually were converted to seperate theatres were the Fox Riverside Theatre in Riverside, and the Fox Theatre in Redlands.
Joe, Lee did replace the original marquee. The theatre was then restored again in 1964, and again in 1988, when the city declared the outside facade a historical landmark. In 1991, a developer greased some city council palms to get the guts torn down to put a new high rise hotel in, but he ran out of funding. He sold it to a church pastor for $300,000.
The theatre was foreclosed on in 2003 since the pastor had used the theatre as collateral for another debt he did not pay. At that time, a major leak had begun in the roof.
The mortgage company, thinking they could sell the property off quickly for a profit (8 million dollars to be precise), let the leak stay, because they thought anyone would tear it down.
The water damage is extensive, but not unrepairable. The floors remain undamaged. Perrine, the original architect, designed this building to last, and it was an engenius design.
It is now in the stages of being transfered to a new owner who wishes to fully restore it and re-open it. If all goes well, you should start seeing new work on it by March.
In late October of 1941, S. Charles Lee began preparing plans for remodeling part of the California Theater, to create a 450 seat newsreel house, with a seperate lobby and marquee. Most likely, this would have been done by converting the California’s ample stage house, as was done with the Fox Riverside Theater. However, the plans for the California were apparently never carried out, most likely due to shortages of construction materials and manpower brought on by the entry of the U.S. into the war a few weeks later.
I lived in San Diego from 1987-1989 and again 1996-2002 and often went downtown and stood on the corner looking at the facade of this beautiful theater. The building takes up most of the block and must be enormous in size. When I first arrived in San Diego in 1987, the neighborhood was not the best and fairly run down. Today the neighborhood has been revitalized by nearby Gaslamp Historic district restaurants and the massive building of luxury condominiums in nearby Little Italy. Many folks who work in downtown San Diego are now relocating to these new lofts and condos downtown. This theater should prove to be a marvelous attraction for the afflutent urbanites who live and work downtown. The nearby Copley Symphony hall was once a movie theater is now home to the San Diego Symphony and the former Spreckles and Balboa theaters are also open and showcasing live entertainment. I wish David much luck with this beautiful structure. I wish we had more folks who are willing to bring these masterpieces of architecture back to life. They are real treasures.
That’s great news David. I wish you all the very best in getting the California up and running again and will certainly want to visit it next time I’m in town.
You are incorrect, Ken. The wall of boards outside the door at this time is for construction safety. It is being fully restored. This construction has been in progress since 1997. The espestos was removed, then the lead, and then the statues were restored. Currently, the plumbing and upholstry is being worked on.
It has not shown a show since 1977, but it is hardly empty. And if all goes well, it will be open again in 2006.
The California Theatre opened on 22nd April 1927 with a stated seating capacity of 2,021. The architect was John Paxton Perrine. It operated on a mix of movies and vaudeville until 1937 when it went to full time movie use.
The California Theatre closed on 18th April 1977 and has remained closed, boarded up and empty since then.
It is a nice area of downtown, just a block from Horton Plaza.
My name is David Young, and I will be making an offer to pay for finishing the renovations and opening the theatre in the coming months. If all goes well, I will have it showing plays again by summer of 2006. Keep watching.
This theatre is located one block from the Balboa live theatre, and close to megaplexes in Gaslamp (Pacific’s 16 plex) and Horton Plaza (UA/Regal 14 plex)
Denny Downtown San Diego is changing rapidly and is becoming very upscale. It won’t be long before the area around the California is redeveloped.brucec