Yes, the Loyola Theater, which opened in 1946, was one of the first buildings in Westchester’s main business district along Sepulveda Blvd. A historical marker on the Citibank building down the street says that the business district started with a supermarket and a drugstore in 1944. The fact that an Art Deco movie palace was one of the first buildings in the business district reflects the great importance that public movie theaters had in the era before television and home theaters. Here is an early aerial view of the district:
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt9489r90h/
It is interesting that this Cinema Treasures website gives Clarence J. Smale as the sole architect. The Pacific Coast Architecture Database in addition lists Simeon Charles Lee and Carl Gerhardt Moeller:
I believe it was S. Charles Lee who said, “the show starts on the sidewalk.” I disagree — I go to movie theaters just to see movies, not to admire the architecture.
IMO the exterior is flamboyant even for an Art Deco movie palace.
The theater was declared Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) #259 of the City of Los Angeles in 1982, the same year that it closed. This status as an HCM might have helped save the facade.
I grew up in Westchester from 1956 to 1964 and of course I remember the Loyola Theater. I remember the free matinees. The “stadium seating” was called “loges.” What aroused my interest in this theater now is that I discovered that the Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources lists this theater as Historic Cultural Monument(HCM) #259. This office must have detailed information about the theater’s history. Sadly, though, I saw no bronze HCM plaque at the theater, and I think that needs to be corrected. An official plaque costs $443 plus shipping. There is an installation service for an additional charge.
Yes, the Loyola Theater, which opened in 1946, was one of the first buildings in Westchester’s main business district along Sepulveda Blvd. A historical marker on the Citibank building down the street says that the business district started with a supermarket and a drugstore in 1944. The fact that an Art Deco movie palace was one of the first buildings in the business district reflects the great importance that public movie theaters had in the era before television and home theaters. Here is an early aerial view of the district:
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt9489r90h/
It is interesting that this Cinema Treasures website gives Clarence J. Smale as the sole architect. The Pacific Coast Architecture Database in addition lists Simeon Charles Lee and Carl Gerhardt Moeller:
https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/15131/
The UCLA library housing S.Charles Lee’s papers calls him “the most prolific architect of art deco movie palaces in Los Angeles”:
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf3000050c/
I believe it was S. Charles Lee who said, “the show starts on the sidewalk.” I disagree — I go to movie theaters just to see movies, not to admire the architecture.
IMO the exterior is flamboyant even for an Art Deco movie palace.
The theater was declared Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) #259 of the City of Los Angeles in 1982, the same year that it closed. This status as an HCM might have helped save the facade.
I grew up in Westchester from 1956 to 1964 and of course I remember the Loyola Theater. I remember the free matinees. The “stadium seating” was called “loges.” What aroused my interest in this theater now is that I discovered that the Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources lists this theater as Historic Cultural Monument(HCM) #259. This office must have detailed information about the theater’s history. Sadly, though, I saw no bronze HCM plaque at the theater, and I think that needs to be corrected. An official plaque costs $443 plus shipping. There is an installation service for an additional charge.