Warnors Center for the Performing Arts
1400 Fulton Street,
Fresno,
CA
93721
1400 Fulton Street,
Fresno,
CA
93721
11 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Warnors Center for the Performing Arts (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Pantages, Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Architects: Benjamin Marcus Priteca
Functions: Live Theater, Performing Arts
Styles: Spanish Colonial
Previous Names: Pantages Theatre, Warner's Theatre, Warner Cinerama Theatre, Warnors Theatre
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
559.264.2848
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Apr 1, 2013 — "2001: A Space Odyssey" 45th Anniversary – The Cinerama Engagements
- Dec 9, 2012 — Happy 50th, “Lawrence of Arabia”
- May 19, 2011 — Cinema Treasures Site Update
- Mar 2, 2010 — Happy 45th, "The Sound Of Music"
- Feb 19, 2009 — Remembering Cinerama (Part 21: Fresno)
- Jun 14, 2007 — Frank S. Caglia passes away
The Pantages Theatre opened on October 20, 1928 with Glenn Tryon in “Lonesome” plus 5-acts of vaudeville on the stage. Built for and operated by Alexander Pantages, this massive building takes up an entire city block in downtown Fresno, CA. It is equipped with a Robert Morton 4 manual 14 ranks theatre pipe organ. In 1929 it was taken over by Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp. and renamed Warner’s Theatre. In December 1962 it was converted into a Cinerama theatre, opening on December 21, 1962 with “This Is Cinerama” and played Cinerama feature movies until December 1968.
In 1973 it was threatened with demolition and was purchased by theatre organ enthusiast Frank Caglia who renamed it Warnors Theatre (due to copyright of the Warner name). By 1987 it had been renovated to the plans of Seattle based architect Richard F. McCann, a successor to the Priteca firm, retaining all the original features of the building. Upon the death of Frank Caglia in 2006, the theatre passed to a non-profit operation and is a performing arts venue.
It was placed on the Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Contributed by
CinemAFuchs
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Recent comments (view all 27 comments)
Fresno’s Cinerama history posted here.
Here is another recent shot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cakeight/3714781977
A wonderful tour of a very nice Robert Morton Theater Organ at the Warnor Theater http://ow.ly/odldh
Here are more photos taken in and around the Warnor’s in recent years: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cakeight/6000278995 https://www.flickr.com/photos/cakeight/6000782966 https://www.flickr.com/photos/cakeight/6000275229 https://www.flickr.com/photos/cakeight/6000822760 https://www.flickr.com/photos/cakeight/6000816488 https://www.flickr.com/photos/cakeight/6000252133
my mom nursing school graduation took place here. everything was original including the urinals and toilets which were from 1911!
Grand opening ad posted.
Reopened as Warner’s Fresno on August 31st. 1929
Reopened as Warner’s Fresno on August 31st. 1929
Warner theatre opening Sat, Aug 31, 1929 – 17 · The Fresno Morning Republican (Fresno, California) · Newspapers.com
Just added pictures, ads, and articles of the Warnor theatre to my Cinerama web site - https://incinerama.com/warnercinerama.htm . Please do not copy them to this site.
Updated website - https://warnorscenter.org/