Red Lantern Theatre
134 S. Brea Boulevard,
Brea,
CA
92821
134 S. Brea Boulevard,
Brea,
CA
92821
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Just around the corner from Edwards Brea Stadium Cinemas, this address is nothing but new houses now.
Here is part of an LA Times article dated 10/26/76:
The old Brea Theater apparently will be transformed from an adult movie house into a house of worship. Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa and the lessee have worked out preliminary arrangements by which the church will acquire the building lease next Monday.
Calvary Chapel would require a conditional use permit to use the theater for church services. However, the use permit probably would be granted by the city, even though the chapel would be next door to the Church of the Good Shepherd.
Various issues of Southwest Builder & Contractor from August through November, 1921, carry items about the Red Lantern Theatre. It was designed by architects Jeffery & Schaefer (Elmore Robinson Jeffery and Frank R. Schaefer.) The project was built for investors Culp & Sexton, and the construction company was Fowler & Lindsay, of Santa Ana. Early plans called for reinforced concrete construction, and later articles say the theater was being built of concrete block.
I remember passing by the Brea Theatre a couple of times in the 1950s. From the outside it was quite unprepossessing, and I never would have guessed it had the ornate interior described above. All I recall is that it had a tiny marquee and a somewhat shabby facade.
This theatre was equipped with a four-rank Robert Morton pipe organ. Does anyone know which church was using this building before 1987?