The names of these two buildings are somewhat confusing.
The Rosslyn and The Rosslyn Annex are owned by two separate parties now. The Rosslyn Hotel (formerly the Rosslyn Annex) is still an SRO hotel and will probably remain so. The original Rosslyn, recently called the Frontier Hotel and now called the Rosslyn Lofts, has been converted to market rate (read: too expensive for poor people to afford) lofts on the top three floors. The remaining nine floors will be renovated, but will remain as “affordable housing.” This building was recently purchased by Amerland, who also purchased (and are renovating) the Alexandria Hotel a block over. Both buildings have art galleries on the ground floor and are Ground Zero of “Gallery Row.”
There’s a building on Spring Street between 8th and 9th that used to be a taxi dance hall, looks like. Even though it was recently renovated to some degree, it still has signs on the outside advertising “Dancing.” The street level space is empty, but the upper floors are occupied and home to the Los Angeles Garment & Citizen newspaper.
The confusion is that the building across the street houses the “MJ Higgins Gallery.” But that’s not the formal name of the building, which is a squat, one story brick building which probably dates to the 1890’s. Only one other building on that end of the block. The building ½ block away is formally known as “The Higgins Building” which is huge, about 10 stories tall, 200 feet on each side, built around 1910, and was converted to condos about 5 years ago. That building is not going anywhere.
The MJ Higgins Gallery is going to be torn down very shortly. That end of the block will have a huge concrete garage constructed on it for the Los Angeles PD Motorpool. The new LAPD HQ building (about 12 stories) is being built about ½ block away, across 2nd Street from the Higgins Building. They claim the building will have rentable storefronts in it facing the sidewalk, which is somewhat of a giveback to the residents in the area, but, I am still skeptical.
Anyway, getting back to the topic of this entry, the old Linda Lea Theater. It should be open by the end of September 2007. Here’s a link to a story with some renderings of the outside and inside of the project.
It will look NOTHING like the old theater, but at least it will still remain as a theater. Right now, Downtown has only one operating theater, the Laemmle Grande 4, on the other side of Downtown. That’s not enough for a district where 30,000 residents live, though a new multiplex is coming to LA Live, across the street from Staples Center.
That’s great that we’re getting some megaplexes, but I guess I am very impatient. Those won’t be running for at least 18 more months. And they won’t have the history and character of the places on Broadway.
Oh well, the Linda Lea should be open in about six months. That’s only two four blocks from where I live. At least I can watch some Japanese movies over there. Hope they have subtitles.
There has been some construction progress. New red iron is being welded. I didn’t have my camera with me to capture the progress. Maybe I’ll get out my camera, take a picture and post a link to it here as soon as I can get motivated enough to do it.
It’s a very small theater so maybe it could be done in three months if they keep moving.
Rumours are going around of the Tower getting a rehab and showing movies again in the distant future. Apparently this news is coming from a sales agent selling condos at the Chapman Building, which is across the street. The website for the theater itself has not changed at all.
Here’s the link, take this rumor for what it’s worth:
The theatre will be open for about one more year, until all the permits for new construction are in place. Then it will be demolished for a new retail space. Everybody check it out! You all have a second chance!
Here’s the link to an e-mail from someone who claims to know what’s going on:
533 should be the Optic Theater, and 529 (apparently a very narrow space per this map) is the Star Theater.
Great map! Gives a lot more info.
And apparently we can confirm the People’s Theater as the first incarnation of this space. This space gives the Mozart a run for its money for all its different names.
I checked some of those photos and it looks the first building in the Rosslyn Hotel was built around 1917. So Clune’s was gone by then. A 1907 photo indeed shows a one story building at that corner but the signs were not legible.
The Art Theater at 508 S. Broadway, could have been in the Johnson Building, built in 1905, still standing on the site, today numbered 510 S. Broadway. (The Jewelry Trades Building next door was built in the 1920’s.) If so, the theater probably would have been located where the Taco Bell is in the photo (though that picture is from about 2005, the Taco Bell has left and has been replaced by a different Mexican food place). Note: the news item above refers to it as a “little theater,” so maybe it could have fit in this building.
The Chester Williams Building, now on that site, was built in 1926. The only option would be the one-story building to the left in that January 2007 photo posted by KenMC, housing the American Theater, if that building was renumbered to 450, that’s its number right now. Otherwise, the building is gone. Anyone have a photo of the theatre while it was open?
In case you weren’t aware, since 1999 the residental population of downtown has skyrocketed, from under 10,000, going up to almost 40,000 by 2010. Right now we have only one four plex theatre in the actual downtown area, the Laemmle Grande 4 plex, a bland boxy multiplex built in the late 1970’s. It’s also completely separated from the “Historic Theater District” on Broadway by 5 blocks.
Many of the new people moving to new lofts downtown since 1999 are “Americans” as you put it, and have an average income of over $90,000 per year. Downtown is no longer the exclusive residence of homeless and ddrug addicts. This demographic is CRYING out for some movie theaters, and the old places are just sitting there boarded up.
I’m only asking for ONE of the shuttered places on Broadway to open up again with first run fare, or even second run would be okay. In English. I’d have no problem with someone showing films in Spanish, as long I had somewhere to patronize. I hear that the Million Dollar Theater might be hosting occasional concerts again soon, but that’s not what I’m asking for. I want movies! And the equivalent of a city of 40,000 people should have more than one cinema.
And apparently you haven’t been downtown for a while. They have installed new streetlights and street furniture. Come down to Main Street and check them out. It’s a lot less scary.
In my 1909 panoramic map of Los Angeles, there is a “People’s Theatre” in the middle of the block on the west side of Main below Fifth. I’m wondering if this was in the location of the Optic or the Omar? No addresses given on the map. I’m sure this was a vaudeville house predating both the Optic and the Omar/Moon, which both seem to have been built around 1910. Anyone have any further insight?
My 1909 Panoramic map of Los Angeles shows a “People’s Theater” in the middle of the block, west side of Main between Fifth and Sixth. If the building holding the Optic/Moon was in fact constructed in 1910, then this could be a vaudeville theatre that predated the Optic. But, there’s no address so I’m not sure what address the People’s Theater had. It is definitely in the middle of the block. Could have been where the Star Theatre was. That 1907 photo above is no help. None of the signs are legible. Too bad you can’t zoom in on them anymore. Anyone know anything else?
On my 1909 panoramic map of Los Angeles, it shows a Clune’s Theater, a one story building on the northwest corner of Fifth and Main. The Rosslyn Hotel is there now, built 1921 I think? Either this was yet another Clune’s Theater, or the address above is wrong. Anyone have any further insight on this?
The map from 1950 referenced below shows the “Civic Theater” in approximately the same address as the Union. Was this a different name for the Union, or maybe another incarnation of the Linda Lea Theater next door? I did read that the Linda Lea didn’t start operating under that name until some time in the 1950’s. In any case, I haven’t seen any other references to the “Civic Theater.”
Went to several nights of the Grindhouse Fest, which was SO GREAT, but unfortunately I missed Quentin. I heard that he did show up 2 or 3 times, but it was a long festival, every night for almost two months.
A good chunk of this film “Semi Pro” was shot here in Los Angeles. I was an extra at the film shoot which happened about five-six weeks ago. These were the interior scenes for the supposed basketball arena in Flint, which was actually a small gymnasium at the Los Angeles Fire Academy (!) that was made up to look like a 1940’s era auditorium in the 1970’s.
I have a vague memory of my parents taking me here when I was quite young. I believe the film was “The Heartbreak Kid,” which had Charles Grodin and Cybil Shepherd. I would have been six years old. I think maybe they couldn’t get a babysitter, so they threw me in the back seat of the car. One of the few times I went to a drive-in as a kid.
It’s from the LOC but I bought a printed version from a seller on E-Bay. I got the giant version (about 4 feet by 5 feet) which I had framed. Looks nice on my wall. The detail is quite amazing. Even though the map is huge, the print is tiny and provides a lot of insight to the city at that moment in history.
This theatre should be changed from closed to Open!
Now called The Hayworth, since February 25, 2006, they have been showing live theatre. There is a 99 seat theatre, a 42 seat theater, and a 49 seat theater. Obviously, they have renovated the place. They state the architect was Stiles O. Clements and the place opened in 1926.
Cool, that 1986 photo shows the Pussycat incarnation, but it looks like the place was already shuttered by that time. The VCR had already started killing the porno theater business. Almost none left now.
The names of these two buildings are somewhat confusing.
The Rosslyn and The Rosslyn Annex are owned by two separate parties now. The Rosslyn Hotel (formerly the Rosslyn Annex) is still an SRO hotel and will probably remain so. The original Rosslyn, recently called the Frontier Hotel and now called the Rosslyn Lofts, has been converted to market rate (read: too expensive for poor people to afford) lofts on the top three floors. The remaining nine floors will be renovated, but will remain as “affordable housing.” This building was recently purchased by Amerland, who also purchased (and are renovating) the Alexandria Hotel a block over. Both buildings have art galleries on the ground floor and are Ground Zero of “Gallery Row.”
Lucyb:
There’s a building on Spring Street between 8th and 9th that used to be a taxi dance hall, looks like. Even though it was recently renovated to some degree, it still has signs on the outside advertising “Dancing.” The street level space is empty, but the upper floors are occupied and home to the Los Angeles Garment & Citizen newspaper.
The confusion is that the building across the street houses the “MJ Higgins Gallery.” But that’s not the formal name of the building, which is a squat, one story brick building which probably dates to the 1890’s. Only one other building on that end of the block. The building ½ block away is formally known as “The Higgins Building” which is huge, about 10 stories tall, 200 feet on each side, built around 1910, and was converted to condos about 5 years ago. That building is not going anywhere.
The MJ Higgins Gallery is going to be torn down very shortly. That end of the block will have a huge concrete garage constructed on it for the Los Angeles PD Motorpool. The new LAPD HQ building (about 12 stories) is being built about ½ block away, across 2nd Street from the Higgins Building. They claim the building will have rentable storefronts in it facing the sidewalk, which is somewhat of a giveback to the residents in the area, but, I am still skeptical.
Anyway, getting back to the topic of this entry, the old Linda Lea Theater. It should be open by the end of September 2007. Here’s a link to a story with some renderings of the outside and inside of the project.
http://blogdowntown.com/blog/2781
It will look NOTHING like the old theater, but at least it will still remain as a theater. Right now, Downtown has only one operating theater, the Laemmle Grande 4, on the other side of Downtown. That’s not enough for a district where 30,000 residents live, though a new multiplex is coming to LA Live, across the street from Staples Center.
Where else can you watch classic films with the people that were in them?
That’s great that we’re getting some megaplexes, but I guess I am very impatient. Those won’t be running for at least 18 more months. And they won’t have the history and character of the places on Broadway.
Oh well, the Linda Lea should be open in about six months. That’s only two four blocks from where I live. At least I can watch some Japanese movies over there. Hope they have subtitles.
There has been some construction progress. New red iron is being welded. I didn’t have my camera with me to capture the progress. Maybe I’ll get out my camera, take a picture and post a link to it here as soon as I can get motivated enough to do it.
It’s a very small theater so maybe it could be done in three months if they keep moving.
Rumours are going around of the Tower getting a rehab and showing movies again in the distant future. Apparently this news is coming from a sales agent selling condos at the Chapman Building, which is across the street. The website for the theater itself has not changed at all.
Here’s the link, take this rumor for what it’s worth:
View link
Also “Krull” and “Spacehunter” playing a few weeks before that! What a summer!
The theatre will be open for about one more year, until all the permits for new construction are in place. Then it will be demolished for a new retail space. Everybody check it out! You all have a second chance!
Here’s the link to an e-mail from someone who claims to know what’s going on:
View link
523 shows “Movies,” 529 shows “mov'g picts” and 533 shows “moving pictures.”
533 should be the Optic Theater, and 529 (apparently a very narrow space per this map) is the Star Theater.
Great map! Gives a lot more info.
And apparently we can confirm the People’s Theater as the first incarnation of this space. This space gives the Mozart a run for its money for all its different names.
I checked some of those photos and it looks the first building in the Rosslyn Hotel was built around 1917. So Clune’s was gone by then. A 1907 photo indeed shows a one story building at that corner but the signs were not legible.
The Art Theater at 508 S. Broadway, could have been in the Johnson Building, built in 1905, still standing on the site, today numbered 510 S. Broadway. (The Jewelry Trades Building next door was built in the 1920’s.) If so, the theater probably would have been located where the Taco Bell is in the photo (though that picture is from about 2005, the Taco Bell has left and has been replaced by a different Mexican food place). Note: the news item above refers to it as a “little theater,” so maybe it could have fit in this building.
http://www.you-are-here.com/broadway/johnson.html
Also, this theatre might have changed its name to La Petite when the nearby Art Theater opened on Main Street in 1918.
The Chester Williams Building, now on that site, was built in 1926. The only option would be the one-story building to the left in that January 2007 photo posted by KenMC, housing the American Theater, if that building was renumbered to 450, that’s its number right now. Otherwise, the building is gone. Anyone have a photo of the theatre while it was open?
In case you weren’t aware, since 1999 the residental population of downtown has skyrocketed, from under 10,000, going up to almost 40,000 by 2010. Right now we have only one four plex theatre in the actual downtown area, the Laemmle Grande 4 plex, a bland boxy multiplex built in the late 1970’s. It’s also completely separated from the “Historic Theater District” on Broadway by 5 blocks.
Many of the new people moving to new lofts downtown since 1999 are “Americans” as you put it, and have an average income of over $90,000 per year. Downtown is no longer the exclusive residence of homeless and ddrug addicts. This demographic is CRYING out for some movie theaters, and the old places are just sitting there boarded up.
I’m only asking for ONE of the shuttered places on Broadway to open up again with first run fare, or even second run would be okay. In English. I’d have no problem with someone showing films in Spanish, as long I had somewhere to patronize. I hear that the Million Dollar Theater might be hosting occasional concerts again soon, but that’s not what I’m asking for. I want movies! And the equivalent of a city of 40,000 people should have more than one cinema.
And apparently you haven’t been downtown for a while. They have installed new streetlights and street furniture. Come down to Main Street and check them out. It’s a lot less scary.
In my 1909 panoramic map of Los Angeles, there is a “People’s Theatre” in the middle of the block on the west side of Main below Fifth. I’m wondering if this was in the location of the Optic or the Omar? No addresses given on the map. I’m sure this was a vaudeville house predating both the Optic and the Omar/Moon, which both seem to have been built around 1910. Anyone have any further insight?
My 1909 Panoramic map of Los Angeles shows a “People’s Theater” in the middle of the block, west side of Main between Fifth and Sixth. If the building holding the Optic/Moon was in fact constructed in 1910, then this could be a vaudeville theatre that predated the Optic. But, there’s no address so I’m not sure what address the People’s Theater had. It is definitely in the middle of the block. Could have been where the Star Theatre was. That 1907 photo above is no help. None of the signs are legible. Too bad you can’t zoom in on them anymore. Anyone know anything else?
On my 1909 panoramic map of Los Angeles, it shows a Clune’s Theater, a one story building on the northwest corner of Fifth and Main. The Rosslyn Hotel is there now, built 1921 I think? Either this was yet another Clune’s Theater, or the address above is wrong. Anyone have any further insight on this?
The map from 1950 referenced below shows the “Civic Theater” in approximately the same address as the Union. Was this a different name for the Union, or maybe another incarnation of the Linda Lea Theater next door? I did read that the Linda Lea didn’t start operating under that name until some time in the 1950’s. In any case, I haven’t seen any other references to the “Civic Theater.”
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/subwayarea.htm
Went to several nights of the Grindhouse Fest, which was SO GREAT, but unfortunately I missed Quentin. I heard that he did show up 2 or 3 times, but it was a long festival, every night for almost two months.
A good chunk of this film “Semi Pro” was shot here in Los Angeles. I was an extra at the film shoot which happened about five-six weeks ago. These were the interior scenes for the supposed basketball arena in Flint, which was actually a small gymnasium at the Los Angeles Fire Academy (!) that was made up to look like a 1940’s era auditorium in the 1970’s.
I have a vague memory of my parents taking me here when I was quite young. I believe the film was “The Heartbreak Kid,” which had Charles Grodin and Cybil Shepherd. I would have been six years old. I think maybe they couldn’t get a babysitter, so they threw me in the back seat of the car. One of the few times I went to a drive-in as a kid.
It’s from the LOC but I bought a printed version from a seller on E-Bay. I got the giant version (about 4 feet by 5 feet) which I had framed. Looks nice on my wall. The detail is quite amazing. Even though the map is huge, the print is tiny and provides a lot of insight to the city at that moment in history.
This theatre should be changed from closed to Open!
Now called The Hayworth, since February 25, 2006, they have been showing live theatre. There is a 99 seat theatre, a 42 seat theater, and a 49 seat theater. Obviously, they have renovated the place. They state the architect was Stiles O. Clements and the place opened in 1926.
www.thehayworth.com/aboutus
It’s fantastic that they’ve brought this place back from the shadows…now if only somebody would do this for some of the movie palaces on Broadway!
Kind of ironic that the McDonald’s couldn’t make a profit in that location either…
Cool, that 1986 photo shows the Pussycat incarnation, but it looks like the place was already shuttered by that time. The VCR had already started killing the porno theater business. Almost none left now.