Hoffster,
Native Torrance guy too, born and raised, now living in Redondo. I am actually going to be working with the new Mall owners, The Mills' Corporation, going to try and get some of those old blue and white DAM parking lot signs. I wish I had that funky round 6o-ish mural that was above the old Lindberg Nutrition store (where the stairs lead up/down from Montgomery Wards. So what was it like inside the rocket?
In 1995 I was a part of a small group of investors interested in renovating this theater. The cost was 700k, plus an additional 700k to retrofit for earthquakes. The city of Torrance bureaucrats didn’t want to deal with the renovation of a “porn theater” after having dealt with years of protests to close this locale. Our plan was to convert into a movie/music/coffee house type venue. No chance. The city of T. is way too uptight for that. They blocked every avenue we had to buy and reno. They wanted it gone for good./FYI: This theater was my Mom’s first job back in the late 50’s./Hmm? Culture or Condos? In Torrance, it’s condos. JoeC.
Old Towne did rock. The theater was great, but the mall was incredible. They also had a shooting gallery, this weird forest ride, and of course, The Scorpio Shoppe. The owner moved this place to Hermosa Beach-still in business. I saw some great films there…and like knatcal, I too saw Pretty in Pink there. I went with my sister and her boyfriend at the time. This and the Marina Theater aka Rat Theater in Redondo Beach (now a condominium) were by far the best so. bay movie locales back in the day. JoeC
I was a kid when the mall opened up. I used to walk about two blocks from my house on Madrona Ave. on Friday nights and sneak in the side doors which faced the south parking lot. These lead into the movie theater. Free movies, never got caught. The mall used to have a large “rocket ship” near this area. It seemed big at the time, but from what I was told by mall personnel, it was actually a place for children to go into and watch movies while their parents shopped. I pulled up an old ad from the local paper on microfilm and it in its advertisement for the mall it shows this rocket. I don’t think the theater ever utilized the rocket ship idea, but it was pretty cool-especially when your 8 yrs. old. Good stuff. The old theater will probably be getting demolished soon. The mall is planning a major renovation Fall 2004. C'est la vie. Joe
Hoffster,
Native Torrance guy too, born and raised, now living in Redondo. I am actually going to be working with the new Mall owners, The Mills' Corporation, going to try and get some of those old blue and white DAM parking lot signs. I wish I had that funky round 6o-ish mural that was above the old Lindberg Nutrition store (where the stairs lead up/down from Montgomery Wards. So what was it like inside the rocket?
In 1995 I was a part of a small group of investors interested in renovating this theater. The cost was 700k, plus an additional 700k to retrofit for earthquakes. The city of Torrance bureaucrats didn’t want to deal with the renovation of a “porn theater” after having dealt with years of protests to close this locale. Our plan was to convert into a movie/music/coffee house type venue. No chance. The city of T. is way too uptight for that. They blocked every avenue we had to buy and reno. They wanted it gone for good./FYI: This theater was my Mom’s first job back in the late 50’s./Hmm? Culture or Condos? In Torrance, it’s condos. JoeC.
Old Towne did rock. The theater was great, but the mall was incredible. They also had a shooting gallery, this weird forest ride, and of course, The Scorpio Shoppe. The owner moved this place to Hermosa Beach-still in business. I saw some great films there…and like knatcal, I too saw Pretty in Pink there. I went with my sister and her boyfriend at the time. This and the Marina Theater aka Rat Theater in Redondo Beach (now a condominium) were by far the best so. bay movie locales back in the day. JoeC
I was a kid when the mall opened up. I used to walk about two blocks from my house on Madrona Ave. on Friday nights and sneak in the side doors which faced the south parking lot. These lead into the movie theater. Free movies, never got caught. The mall used to have a large “rocket ship” near this area. It seemed big at the time, but from what I was told by mall personnel, it was actually a place for children to go into and watch movies while their parents shopped. I pulled up an old ad from the local paper on microfilm and it in its advertisement for the mall it shows this rocket. I don’t think the theater ever utilized the rocket ship idea, but it was pretty cool-especially when your 8 yrs. old. Good stuff. The old theater will probably be getting demolished soon. The mall is planning a major renovation Fall 2004. C'est la vie. Joe