Replying to Joe Vogel: This theater had a true balcony. There were two “L” shaped staircases that led from the ground floor lobby up to the balcony lobby. When first opened, this theater was accessed through the adjacent building to the right. Here is a link from around 1926: https://content.ci.pomona.ca.us/digital/collection/Landmarks/id/2512/rec/102
In the picture, you can see the old facade of the auditorium section (which is the smaller darker building to the left) is flat and flush. That is where the long skinny back lobby portion was. It was very plain and drab because it was not the main entrance. Sometime in the 30s, the marque and entrance was moved around the corner to where the two exits are. In a nutshell, I’m trying to say that the two side exits were for egress for all patrons. The balcony patrons had to come down the staircases to the main lobby before exiting the theater. I know this for a fact as I snuck in as a kid to explore. At that time, the theater was being remodeled again in order to become the Pomona Valley Auditorium.
Replying to Joe Vogel: This theater had a true balcony. There were two “L” shaped staircases that led from the ground floor lobby up to the balcony lobby. When first opened, this theater was accessed through the adjacent building to the right. Here is a link from around 1926: https://content.ci.pomona.ca.us/digital/collection/Landmarks/id/2512/rec/102 In the picture, you can see the old facade of the auditorium section (which is the smaller darker building to the left) is flat and flush. That is where the long skinny back lobby portion was. It was very plain and drab because it was not the main entrance. Sometime in the 30s, the marque and entrance was moved around the corner to where the two exits are. In a nutshell, I’m trying to say that the two side exits were for egress for all patrons. The balcony patrons had to come down the staircases to the main lobby before exiting the theater. I know this for a fact as I snuck in as a kid to explore. At that time, the theater was being remodeled again in order to become the Pomona Valley Auditorium.