Yost Theatre
307 N. Spurgeon Street,
Santa Ana,
CA
92701
307 N. Spurgeon Street,
Santa Ana,
CA
92701
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 24 comments
The opening movie shown at the Yost Theatre on November 11, 1919 was “Checkers” starring Thomas Carrigan.
I’ve discovered that, following an error in an early trade journal, I switched the first and second names of the original architect of the Yost Theatre. It should be Frederick Harry Eley.
A native of Colchester, England, Eley immigrated to the United States around 1902 and became the first registered architect to practice in Santa Ana. In the late 1930s he removed his practice to Salem,Oregon, where his son, Frederick Richard Eley joined him as draftsman. The younger Eley later became a partner in the Seattle firm of Carlson, Eley & Gravsted, who designed John Hamrick’s last Music Box Theatre in Portland in 1959.
The Yost is the subject of a segment of tonight’s Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. Major haunting.
As a former US Navy Color Guard member, it is always nice to see the American flag on show (see the opening photo) but your theater display needs to be rearranged in the correct manner, as prescribed by the US Government.
1, The US flag should always be positioned on the far left of a stage (especially when other flags are displayed) with the field of “stars” positioned in the upper left portion of the flag. #2, This is then followed by State, County, City and organization in that order to the right. #3, No other flag, including those of foreign countries are to be positioned any higher or ahead of the US flag.
This common problem is so often created by people who mean well but have never been properly informed. FYI, any American veterans facility or flag shop will gladly supply you with an official printout with pictures.
While semi open for a few years now, the Yost is celebrating it’s official reopening this weekend, after a $2.7 mil remodel/upgrade. The venue is now focused on live concerts and use as a club, with a full bar and restaurant in place.
Here is a photo that was posted on Google:
http://tinyurl.com/yhka8uh
Here are some recent photos:
http://tinyurl.com/yfplcbz
http://tinyurl.com/yfa742w
Here are two March 2009 photographs I took of the Yost:
View link
View link
The Rocky Horror Picture Show begins a run here on Saturday,July 4th.
My heartiest congratulations to all who were part of this project.
I try to stay out of Orange County. Too many Republicans.
LA Times, 12/16/07:
http://tinyurl.com/686r5v
The Yost is about to be reopened. A group of students are making a documentary. Does anyone have information that might be helpful.
Might the theatre referred to at 3rd and Bush in Lost Memory’s entry be the Bush Theatre?
The Yost Theatre is presently unoccupied.
I feel that the Mexican/Spanish films screened at the local Teatro on 4th Street should move into the Yost.
This would also be an excellent site for various film festivals.
Is this the same family as Frank Olivos, David Olivos Sr., David John Olivos Jr., and David Olivos III from the same area?
Chuck1231, my post from Feb. 27th 2003 got mis-directed from another theatre posting. The Arlington Theatre in my post was located in Los Angeles. That post was a site error.
For anyone in the Los Angeles area, it is possible that KTLA will be showing footage of the Yost Theatre on Friday, May 5. The morning news crew will be down there for Cinquo de Mayo and the previews show shots of the Yost with Spanish-language verbiage on the marquee.
Just to confuse this even further, the Los Angeles Examiner reports the plans were prepared for the Yost Theater in Santa Ana by Architect, A. Godfrey Bailey in Part IV, Page 4 of their April 18, 1926 edition. Based on what I see, Mr. Yost may have had several theaters in Santa Ana and evidently used either Carl Boller or A. Godfrey Bailey of both of them to design his theaters. A search of Santa Ana building permits may be required to get our Yost theaters sorted out.
I’ve been unable to find any indication that Carl Boller was the architect of this theatre. I believe that the theatre Boller worked on was the one announced in Southwest Builder and Contractor issue of July 10th, 1925. The location of that theatre was given as 5th and Broadway, Santa Ana, but I suspect that it was the Broadway Theatre at 416 N. Broadway. The article says that the plans for that theatre were being prepared by Boller and architect A. Godfrey Bailey, associated, and the owner of the theatre is named as E.D. Yost.
This Yost theater on Spurgeon Street was announced in Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer, issue of February 15th, 1913, and the architect was named as Harry Frederick Eley. Other references I have found indicate that the theatre was financed and erected by T.H. Fowler, a Santa Ana Contractor and financier of the era.
This Yost Theatre is mentioned again in a Southwest Builder and Contractor article of January 21st, 1921. This article announces that E.D. Yost has had plans prepared for an addition and remodeling of his theatre on Spurgeon Street, to cost $30,000. The architect of this remodeling is named as W.W. Kays.
Another remodeling of the Yost took place in 1947 (Southwest Builder and Contractor, February 21, 1947) and involved deepening the basement, relocating the restrooms, enlarging the foyer, and installing new heating and ventilation systems. The architects of this remodeling were Wildman and Faulkner, 225 Spurgeon Building, Santa Ana.
The Yost Theatre hosted several Mexican-movie premiers and concerts with stars like Juan Gabriel and Vicente Fernandez, while also serving as the residence to Louie Olivos Jr’s (Artistic Director/Founder) Actores de Santa Ana, Orange County’s first Chicano theatre group. This movie theatre and playhouse was operated by a Chicano family (the Lewis Olivos Sr. family of Santa Ana, CA) for a large part of the 20th century (from the 1950’s until the 1980’s), until the city of Santa Ana forced the Yost’s doors shut after enforcing Earth Quake code changes without any city subsidization. This theatre, in essence, was unjustly sequestered from the Olivos family by the city of Santa Ana.
I think it was just a board burp, Charles. Has anyone thought of these churches that take over old theatres as simply place-sitters for the time being?
The theatre (also referred to as the New Yost) was located at 307 Spurgeon Street, designed by architectural firm of Boller & Boller (1925).
Old board said:
“GaryParks > Apr 27, 2002 5:21 PM EST
In fall 1996, I saw and photographed this theatre, which appeared then as it does in the above photo. It had ceased its longtime use as a Spanish-language movie and live act house, and was being used for church services like the Fox West Coast nearby. The stagehouse flytower is unusually shaped, and, at least at the time of my observation, still had wonderful painted signage in Spanish on it, extolling the virtues of this teatro / cine.”
The Arlington Theatre was located at 2517 W. Washington Blvd.