Hippodrome Theater
314 S. Main Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90013
314 S. Main Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90013
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 180 comments
Both grand opening ads posted.
I added a 1946 picture in the Photos section of this theatre’s marquee. The general rundown condition of the neighborhood is obvious.
In 1913, the Adolphus Theatre was extensively altered with the addition of a 700-seat, steel and concrete cantilevered balcony. The April 12 issue of Southwest Contractor & Manufacturer said that the project was being designed by architect Otto Jansson, which was probably a misspelling. The 1910 Yearbook of the Los Angeles Architecture Club spells his name Janssen. As he was then treasurer of the club, its spelling was probably right.
You mean people just defecate in the streets around there? And people are going to live there? LOL.
Here is a 1976 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/lnc2ns
Here is a 1983 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cnn3yj
The Barclay was originally the Van Nuys.
No, the Barclay is the hotel on the northwest corner of 4th and Main. The Hippodrome was on the other side of Main, about halfway down the block going north. The new condo complex is taking over the Westiminster site and part of the old Hippodrome site. When they were breaking up the concrete for the condos, some old theater tiles were uncovered in the process.
I agree-sidestepping all that gets me pooped out.
I’ll have to find one of my pictures from a few years ago and compare. I used to walk by there every day but I’ve stopped because of the human defecation covering the sidewalk between Los Angeles and Main on 4th…..I take a different route now.
I thought they were installing a new sign because the old one had a lot of rust holes. Maybe they just sandblasted it.
Is it a new sign or the old sign restored? It looks very similar although cleaner.
Gentrification at 4th & Main-new sign for the Barclay, condos going up on former Westminster site:
http://tinyurl.com/b7hglq
http://tinyurl.com/bk49mw
Maybe some hyperbole. I don’t think anyone was counting.
Here is an LA Times ad dated 1/16/14:
http://tinyurl.com/66wukl
Here is an excerpt from an LA Times article dated 8/13/61:
Sale of a parking lot, site of the old Hippodrome Theater on Main Street, for $400,000 has been announced. Harrison Memorial Trust acquired the site from Joseph Miller.
The Hippodrome Theater, built in the early 1900s, had the largest stage on the West Coast and provided circus-type entertainment with many large animal acts. The theater portion was demolished in 1952 because of the demand for automobile parking in that area.
The concrete foundation under the new construction extends into the dirt pile. I was looking at it today and was wondering if that was part of the old foundation for the theater building. I doubt if the builders would lay that out and then pour dirt all over it.
http://tinyurl.com/6dchsy
I tried a search under Adolphus instead of hippodrome and found the proofs. I think the vantage point would be from the Follies, which may have either still been in existence or alternatively was recently demolished. I’ve seen Follies photos from the LAPL as late as 1973.
Did the library add some new material? I love the 1974 photos!
The expanded view of the photo at the top of the page shows the adjoining businesses. Prohibition would have still be in effect in 1928, so I’m not sure what kind of brew the business on the left was selling.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015345.jpg
Here are a couple of proofs from 1974. You can see the gym taking over the entire second floor:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015199.jpg
They do match up pretty closely.
I think you’re right ken.
I did try to match up the current driveway cutouts with the old photos. I posted this photo back in January 2007, but that was before the construction started.
http://tinyurl.com/yxverb
Compare with this LAPL photo. The white building on the far north side of the street abutted the corner of 3rd and Main, I believe, which would put the theater cutout about where you see it in the contemporary photo.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics09/00014006.jpg
This is a bit of supposition, but if you look at the gate by the box office, you see the lighter covered floor. That corresponds with where the tile was, so that may have been the floor covering by the box office and going into the theater. I posted this photo from the LA Times blog last April.
http://tinyurl.com/6aplyy
They already tore up all that decorative tile we saw in January. I was hoping they would uncover some more of that, but the area in front of the theater has been obliterated.