Vision Theatre
3341 W. 43rd Place,
Los Angeles,
CA
90008
3341 W. 43rd Place,
Los Angeles,
CA
90008
11 people
favorited this theater
A large neighborhood movie palace, this 1931 Spanish-tinged Deco wonder has retained its importance to the community for 70 years since the theater first opened.
After showing first run films for decades, the theater was renamed the Watchtower in the 1980’s, when the Leimert was converted into a Jehovah’s Witness chapel.
Actress Marla Gibbs purchased the theater in 1990 and renamed it The Vision Theatre.
The theater fell on hard times after the 1992 riots and the economic recession which hit this area of Los Angeles.
The bank foreclosed on the property in 1997 and the city took it over.
The theater was later converted into a performing arts center.
Today, the theater is in the midst of a multi-year, $11 million renovation and fundraising campaign.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 49 comments)
Word is that Crenshaw Blvd will be closed tomorrow between MLK and Rodeo for a street festival.
www.tasteofsoulla.com
Be prepared with an alternate route!
A big question at yesterday’s All About: where exactly was the fountain with the electric eye? No one can seem to find a photograph showing it. We also examined all the nooks and crannies, trying to figure it out, with no luck.
The renovation is planned to take part in 3 stages. The first involves the entrance/lobby, the second covers the auditorium, the last would involve removing everything beyond the proscenium and creating an entirely new structure that would include dressing rooms and support space. The projected completion date is now 2012.
Isn’t this a picture of the lobby that shows a drinking fountain in the corner?
View link
This theater was originally developed by Howard Hughes to show his movies in his theaters. The acoustics in the auditorium are fantastic. I worked with Marla Gibbs as her contractor/friend in the clean up renovation as part of “Rebuild LA”. The movie theater was converted into a playhouse for approximately three weeks. There were continuous live performances in the auditorium. One of the performers was a gospel group called Honey on the Rock. My firm installed the sign “Vision Theater”. Marla had a fantastic vision, unfortunately, the timing was extremely bad for her. It is great that the city is taking the incentive to restore this fantastic landmark.
David, the theater was built by the Leimert family (I believe), and was leased by H. Hughes and his partner. They only ran it for about a year before going out of business.
***Don S: I’m so bummed I missed the tour last October. If you have an pictures from the event, and more details, that would be awesome.
I thought I’d leave some memories. I attended Jehovah’s Witness conventions at the theatre for 2 or 3 years way back in the 80’s. It obviously left a mark, as I still think of it today. Back then the place seemed very big.
My brother and I would explore. We’d stand out front and look at the mosaic on the sidewalk.
During the talks, I’d gaze up at the amazing mural on the ceiling. I remember the blues and golds, along with sparkles in it: View link (wish I had a color photo)
The Gold rails you see here: View link Would shock you as you touched them from walking on the plush carpets. The seats were comfortable but often squeaked.
There was a long steep downward walkway on the left side of the auditorium. You’d walk there to go to the cafeteria.
Back then I always assumed the place had been built by the church because so much of it fit into it’s art and architecture imagery.
Is the mural still there? Is the cafeteria? Any way to visit it? Boy I hope they don’t change much if they ever manage to renovate it.
Lands, thanks for the great post! My photos from that day are posted on Facebook at the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation’s page. I don’t think you have to become a “fan” to look at them. The mural on the ceiling is still there, looking very good in fact. As for the cafeteria, I don’t know about that. It sounds like it would have been in the retail space on the side, and we didn’t get into that.
Hey, you might be able help us solve a little mystery… Do you know where the water fountain was located?
Thanks for the fast reply Don. I found the pictures and they are great. I doubt that awful burgundy of the interior section was the same back when I was there. I remember it as dark browns and ocre gold. Maybe dark blues too? Could be wrong. Glad some of the originality survived though.
I really remember those golden columns at the side of the stage. I remember the drinking fountain as being here as shown in the corner of the picture: View link
As you can imagine,
there was always a line of kids waiting to use it. Back then, there was a soft serve ice cream station. I can’t remember if it was in what looks like a coat check room in the above picture, or if that was an information booth.
I know I have at least one picture backstage from a convention. I’ll try and find it soon. Looking at the current site on Google maps, I’m not sure where the cafeteria actually sat. I remember walking through the parking lot…
Hopefully they’ll improve the theatre to it’s original luster and improve conditions around the place as well. Even back then it was bad, but I hear it’s gotten much worse.
BTW – the water from the fountain was always cold, which was nice cause the theatre would get hot.
Thanks for the info. I’ve seen that photo before, but couldn’t tell if that was the fountain or not. We even searched the walls looking for evidence of pipes, etc.
And I agree that it would be nice if they get this place restored. The plans that they presented at our event were very ambitious. For one thing, they talked about building a new floor in the auditorium so they would have stadium seating — but they would preserve the original walls.
Interesting.