Congress Theatre
7510 S. Vermont Ave.,
Los Angeles,
CA
90044
7510 S. Vermont Ave.,
Los Angeles,
CA
90044
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Opened in the late 1930’s, the Congress Theatre was one of many neighborhood theaters that dotted the streets of Southern California that are now all but memories of a day at the movies.
The Congress was closed in the late 1950’s and is now in use as a church.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
It looks like it is a pit now.
I don’t know if JustOldBob is still around, but if he is he might like to know that the name of one of the owners of the Congress was Harry Vinnicof.
The L.A. city planning department’s zoning information system locates this building at 7506 S. Vermont, so the address has apparently been adjusted a bit over the years. The system’s report gives a construction date of 1939 for the building, not surprising given that Ken’s photos above reveal it to be yet another fairly simple art moderne design typical of that decade’s later years.
A 2005 book called “Art Deco Los Angeles”, by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper and Amy Ronnebeck Hall, names Clarence J. Smale as the architect of the Congress Theatre.
Here is a recent photo of the church. What type of theater is Romona’s Gospel & Exhibit Theater?
Here is a 1983 photo:
http://snipurl.com/hl2os
Here is a September 1958 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/yktuwfn
I attended this theater many times to see 2nd run movies in the 50s and I “thought” I had been there as late as 1961. Is it certain that it closed in the late 50s ?
Boy do I remember the Congress. My Grandfather would take me up to the show in his pickup from 624 East 91sat Street. You could count on the Congress to have all the ghost and outer space movies. I watched many of the great movies from the 40’s there. The kids used to run up and down those carpet stariways to the bathrooms. I was an outer space movie there I can’t remember in which a woman got out of a swimming pool in a flesh colored bathing suit to simulate being in the nude. A little exciting but not the real thing.
Here is a recent photo of the former Congress Theatre. It looks as though the street has been recently repaved, but the sidewalk still needs some work.