This multiplex opened in December, 1995, and will close before the end of 2007 and be demolished to make way for an office complex. From debut to doom in a dozen years. I wonder if that’s a record?
LM: It’s most likely that only the street name would have changed, so if the Ivy’s building still existed it would probably be at 3937 Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles. That would be on the north side of Whittier near Ditman Avenue.
On the 1944 map, the little red flag on the block at the northeast corner of Euclid and Whittier indicates that the Euclid Theater either shared the block with a school at that time, or had already been obliterated by an earlier incarnation of the school that occupies the whole block now.
Oh, and Stephenson Avenue isn’t gone (I don’t know why I didn’t notice this immediately.) The name was changed to… Whittier Boulevard! And, if the Ivy was at 3937 (I’m now pretty sure that’s the number the directory gives), then it should be listed in East Los Angeles rather than Los Angeles, as the 3900 block is a bit east of Indiana Street, the city limits.
Also, this probably means that we can bulldoze both of the Jewel Theaters in Los Angeles, since they apparently both duplicate the Jewel Theater in East Los Angeles, at 3817 Whittier Boulevard.
Stephenson Street was renamed Whittier Boulevard sometime before 1925. At 3021, the Euclid Theatre would have been just a few doors east of Euclid Avenue. That whole block has been razed for some large project that looks (on TerraServer) like it might be a school.
This theatre is now a triplex. Metropolitan’s website has gone back to calling it the Fairview Theatre. The website of Thorpe Associates, the architectural firm that designed the renovation, describes the project as “…3-screen, 484 seat multi-theatre complex addition and remodel….” It is all stadium seating. The site also displays a couple of renderings of the building.
The Astor Theatre building is still there. Though Ken’s photos from June 29 do not show the address 4821 displayed on any of the buildings depicted, the city’s zoning information system provides a report on the addresses 4819 through 4821-½. It looks as though the address 4819 has migrated over the years and is now in the building south of the original theatre building.
A combination of zoning information reports and a TerraServer satellite view of the block have convinced me that the white building in Ken’s photo was the location of the Astor Theatre. The zoning information report reveals that this building was built in 1914. The Astor Theatre was listed at 4821 S. Vermont in the 1921 Los Angeles City Directory (the earliest available on the Internet.)
Ken: “Century Vaudeville” in the top ad on that latest scan must refer to the the Gaiety Theatre, but what is the hidden name beginning with the letter “H”?
MKThink, the architectural firm that did the plans for the renovation of this theatre, has this page about it on their website. It says that the former balcony will contain an auditorium with 264 stadium seats, plus an 86 seat screening room.
Of course it also says that the theatre will reopen in 2006, so maybe things have changed. In the photo Lost Memory linked to in August it looks as though the Walgreen’s on the main floor was already open. I wonder why the delay in getting the theatre open?
730 S. Grand was the address of the Mozart Theatre, which apparently was the only theatre in history to change its name more frequently than it changed its program.
Dublinboyo: I’m going to make a wild guess that the vintage ad you saw on display at the Big Newport might have announced the 1940 opening of the Annex, which was an early name of the small theatre in what came to be known as the Alhambra Twin Cinemas on Main Street at Atlantic in Alhambra.
A second possibility is that the ad featured plans for a theatre which Edwards wanted to build in Monterey Park in 1939, but which were never carried out.
As far as I know, the Mission/Monterey was the only indoor theatre in Monterey Park until Edwards built its replacement, the Monterey Mall triplex on Atlantic Boulevard, in the 1970s.
Opened in 1999, this 5600 seat megaplex was designed by the Long Beach-based architectural firm of Perkowitz + Ruth. The lead architect was Marios Savapoulos. Perkowitz + Ruth designed quite a few complexes for Edwards, as well as for other exhibitors.
I don’t know if Belasco had any interest in the first Optic. It’s a possibility that he took a shot at exhibiting movies, though by 1906 I think he was spending most of his time in New York City, from which he directed his far-flung theatrical enterprise. It seems more likely that the building in which the Optic rented space was a conveniently low edifice which provided an ideal location for a billboard, easily seen by the passing throngs on Broadway, and for which the owners of the property undoubtedly received a handsome rent. That it sported an ad touting the Belasco at the time this photo was made may have been mere chance.
As the term “improvements” refers to any structures, pavements, landscaping, etc. which are on a piece of property, the phrase “improved with” in the article only means that the Mission Theatre and the parking lot (interesting that they call it a parking station) were on the property where the Orpheum was to be built.
This theatre was designed by the Los Angeles firm of Harold W. Levitt & Associates. Their successor firm, Levitt & Moss, maintains on its website this memorial page for Harold Levitt. It doesn’t feature any information about the National Theatre, but it does feature a rendering of an unnamed theatre and a photo of the Levitt-designed Fox Valley Circle Theatre in San Diego.
Another interesting thing I’ve run across is on the website of Behr Browers Architects, the firm which did the plans for the renovations of the Criterion in Santa Monica and the Chinese in Hollywood, as well as renovations of the Mann Village and Bruin theatres in 1999. In a section of their website called “Plan Room”, subsection “historic renovations”, there is a mention of construction documents prepared for the Mann National Theatre in Westwood. Maybe Mann intended to renovate the National but the project didn’t pencil out?
The renovation of the 1924 Criterion Building and of the 1980s 6-plex that replaced the original auditorium was completed in 2001. The plans were by the firm of Behr Browers Architects, the same company that did the renovation and expansion of the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, completed in 2002.
Cinematown USA is the correct name of the company. I accidentally wrote “Cinemaworld” in the body of the text above. Among Cinematown’s projects are Cinemaworld multiplexes in Lincoln, Rhode Island and West Melbourne, Florida.
This is one of several multiplex theatres designed and erected by the Cinematown USA division of CRR Builders, Overland Park, Kansas. It has a sister theatre in West Melbourne, Florida.
Apparently some do still call at least part of it Wyvernwood.
But it now occurs to me for the first time ever that maybe the Vern Theatre on Olympic got its name from Wyvernwood?
This multiplex opened in December, 1995, and will close before the end of 2007 and be demolished to make way for an office complex. From debut to doom in a dozen years. I wonder if that’s a record?
LM: It’s most likely that only the street name would have changed, so if the Ivy’s building still existed it would probably be at 3937 Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles. That would be on the north side of Whittier near Ditman Avenue.
On the 1944 map, the little red flag on the block at the northeast corner of Euclid and Whittier indicates that the Euclid Theater either shared the block with a school at that time, or had already been obliterated by an earlier incarnation of the school that occupies the whole block now.
Oh, and Stephenson Avenue isn’t gone (I don’t know why I didn’t notice this immediately.) The name was changed to… Whittier Boulevard! And, if the Ivy was at 3937 (I’m now pretty sure that’s the number the directory gives), then it should be listed in East Los Angeles rather than Los Angeles, as the 3900 block is a bit east of Indiana Street, the city limits.
Also, this probably means that we can bulldoze both of the Jewel Theaters in Los Angeles, since they apparently both duplicate the Jewel Theater in East Los Angeles, at 3817 Whittier Boulevard.
Stephenson Street was renamed Whittier Boulevard sometime before 1925. At 3021, the Euclid Theatre would have been just a few doors east of Euclid Avenue. That whole block has been razed for some large project that looks (on TerraServer) like it might be a school.
Doesn’t the directory give 3937 Stephenson as the address for the Ivy, or has this monitor finally destroyed my eyes?
This theatre is now a triplex. Metropolitan’s website has gone back to calling it the Fairview Theatre. The website of Thorpe Associates, the architectural firm that designed the renovation, describes the project as “…3-screen, 484 seat multi-theatre complex addition and remodel….” It is all stadium seating. The site also displays a couple of renderings of the building.
The Astor Theatre building is still there. Though Ken’s photos from June 29 do not show the address 4821 displayed on any of the buildings depicted, the city’s zoning information system provides a report on the addresses 4819 through 4821-½. It looks as though the address 4819 has migrated over the years and is now in the building south of the original theatre building.
A combination of zoning information reports and a TerraServer satellite view of the block have convinced me that the white building in Ken’s photo was the location of the Astor Theatre. The zoning information report reveals that this building was built in 1914. The Astor Theatre was listed at 4821 S. Vermont in the 1921 Los Angeles City Directory (the earliest available on the Internet.)
Here’s a photo of Edwards Village Theatre in 1963.
In the L.A. Times theatre listings for February 10, 1971, this is the way the theatre is listed: The Village.
Ken: “Century Vaudeville” in the top ad on that latest scan must refer to the the Gaiety Theatre, but what is the hidden name beginning with the letter “H”?
Mercantile Street was where the Broadway/Spring Arcade is now.
The Hotchkiss has a CT page now, as the Capitol Theater.
MKThink, the architectural firm that did the plans for the renovation of this theatre, has this page about it on their website. It says that the former balcony will contain an auditorium with 264 stadium seats, plus an 86 seat screening room.
Of course it also says that the theatre will reopen in 2006, so maybe things have changed. In the photo Lost Memory linked to in August it looks as though the Walgreen’s on the main floor was already open. I wonder why the delay in getting the theatre open?
Marie Doro pulled a Garbo in the late twenties and has remained obscure until now, when she suddenly runs the risk of becoming a star on the Internet.
730 S. Grand was the address of the Mozart Theatre, which apparently was the only theatre in history to change its name more frequently than it changed its program.
Dublinboyo: I’m going to make a wild guess that the vintage ad you saw on display at the Big Newport might have announced the 1940 opening of the Annex, which was an early name of the small theatre in what came to be known as the Alhambra Twin Cinemas on Main Street at Atlantic in Alhambra.
A second possibility is that the ad featured plans for a theatre which Edwards wanted to build in Monterey Park in 1939, but which were never carried out.
As far as I know, the Mission/Monterey was the only indoor theatre in Monterey Park until Edwards built its replacement, the Monterey Mall triplex on Atlantic Boulevard, in the 1970s.
Opened in 1999, this 5600 seat megaplex was designed by the Long Beach-based architectural firm of Perkowitz + Ruth. The lead architect was Marios Savapoulos. Perkowitz + Ruth designed quite a few complexes for Edwards, as well as for other exhibitors.
I don’t know if Belasco had any interest in the first Optic. It’s a possibility that he took a shot at exhibiting movies, though by 1906 I think he was spending most of his time in New York City, from which he directed his far-flung theatrical enterprise. It seems more likely that the building in which the Optic rented space was a conveniently low edifice which provided an ideal location for a billboard, easily seen by the passing throngs on Broadway, and for which the owners of the property undoubtedly received a handsome rent. That it sported an ad touting the Belasco at the time this photo was made may have been mere chance.
Behold the original location of the Optic Theatre on the east side of Broadway between 4th and 5th Streets.
As the term “improvements” refers to any structures, pavements, landscaping, etc. which are on a piece of property, the phrase “improved with” in the article only means that the Mission Theatre and the parking lot (interesting that they call it a parking station) were on the property where the Orpheum was to be built.
This theatre was designed by the Los Angeles firm of Harold W. Levitt & Associates. Their successor firm, Levitt & Moss, maintains on its website this memorial page for Harold Levitt. It doesn’t feature any information about the National Theatre, but it does feature a rendering of an unnamed theatre and a photo of the Levitt-designed Fox Valley Circle Theatre in San Diego.
Another interesting thing I’ve run across is on the website of Behr Browers Architects, the firm which did the plans for the renovations of the Criterion in Santa Monica and the Chinese in Hollywood, as well as renovations of the Mann Village and Bruin theatres in 1999. In a section of their website called “Plan Room”, subsection “historic renovations”, there is a mention of construction documents prepared for the Mann National Theatre in Westwood. Maybe Mann intended to renovate the National but the project didn’t pencil out?
The renovation of the 1924 Criterion Building and of the 1980s 6-plex that replaced the original auditorium was completed in 2001. The plans were by the firm of Behr Browers Architects, the same company that did the renovation and expansion of the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, completed in 2002.
Cinematown USA is the correct name of the company. I accidentally wrote “Cinemaworld” in the body of the text above. Among Cinematown’s projects are Cinemaworld multiplexes in Lincoln, Rhode Island and West Melbourne, Florida.
This is one of several multiplex theatres designed and erected by the Cinematown USA division of CRR Builders, Overland Park, Kansas. It has a sister theatre in West Melbourne, Florida.