Century Theatre
6013 S. Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90003
6013 S. Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90003
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Cabart Theaters Corp, Fox West Coast Theatres
Architects: Lewis Arthur Smith
Functions: Martial Arts School
Styles: Oriental
Previous Names: Circle Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Another of South Central’s Broadway theatre district, the Circle Theatre dates from 1922. By 1950 the Century Theatre was operated by Cabart Theaters Corp.
Contributed by
MagicLantern
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Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
This is the 6000 block. Aloha on the left and Century on the right, possibly:
http://tinyurl.com/2uf7em
Ken: Odd street numbers are on the west sides of north-south streets. In the TerraServer aerial view, it has to be the odd-numbered Century on the left, and the even-numbered Aloha on the right.
The aerial photo shows the extant triangular marquee of the Aloha, and also the patch of terrazzo sidewalk in front of the Century/Circle directly across the street. Your photo and the aerial are proof that, though the address of 6013 has been changed to 6003, L.A. Smith’s Circle Theatre building from 1921-22 has not been demolished. It is currently the location of Acevedo’s Upholstery Supplies. This page needs to be updated.
We discussed this theater a while ago and came to a consensus that the status should be closed and not closed/demolished.
The building is definitely still standing. According to the L.A. County Assessor’s report, the building was built in 1922, and comprises 15,765 sq. ft. on three lots, at 6001, 6009, and 6013 S. Broadway.
The update should show a status of closed, the function as retail, the architect as L.A. Smith. As it closed before the age of twinning it undoubtedly had only one screen, and the announcement of its construction in Southwest Builder & Contractor claimed it would have 900 seats- probably about right, judging from the size of the auditorium as revealed in the recent satellite photos. The original chain was West Coast Theatres. There should be an AKA of Circle Theatre, the name with which it opened in 1922.
The style, just to make a wild guess from Ken’s photo of it was probably Oriental, of the “Arabian Nights” variety. Check out that pair of lamps, now painted vivid red, on the corners of the facade above the former entrance.
I should note that the Tyloon.com link to Acevedo’s Upholstery in my Comment of July 20, 2007, opens a satellite view that has a marker misplaced to the east side of the street, to the former location of the Aloha Theatre. The Century was definitely in the building on the west side of Broadway.
The status should be updated per Joe’s information of 4/11/08.
Thirded!
I went inside this building today, it’s being remodeled into a health club. The man supervising the work was surprised to learn of the building’s origins; but he had heard that a building across the street had once been a theater (that must be the Aloha you’ve been talking about).
The terrazzo extends inward halfway through the lobby. There’s two steps down, then you’re in the former theater space. The man said there were two office/rooms over the lobby which probably were projection and maybe something else. Any projector ports had long since been sealed up.
900 seats seems generous for the space I saw. From the pattern on the terrazzo in the lobby, I could see that they had built to enclose some space, possibly on both sides. I wondered if they had extended the projection booth and lobby room into the auditorium, but the way the roof beams connected to the wall appeared original and was consistent all around the room.
The lamps that Joe pointed out appeared to me to possibly be anchor points for the marquee — maybe a decorative chain or something.
Don, the lamps I mentioned are near the top of the facade, above the hooks that probably anchored the marquee. They can be seen in the second of the two photos ken mc linked to on June 16, 2007. They are painted red and set in squares of blue.
Looking at them again I think they might have been urns rather than lamps, but they still have an Oriental (middle eastern rather than far eastern) look to them. There also appears to be the remnants of a plaster frieze of some sort running across the facade just below them, but its design is hard to make out as everything in that section is painted the same color.
I see what you mean, Joe. Yes, they’re lamps of some kind. The one on the left now has an earthquake retrofit brace in the middle.
The biiling is now a karate school.