Closure and Earthquake Damage
The theater stopped showing movies in 1986, and in 1987 the Vega Building was damaged in the Whittier Narrows earthquake. From 1986-1988 a non-denominational Christian church named Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship occupied the building and held regular services with over 1,000 people. In 1987 the pastors, Mike and Donna Neville were forced to move their church because, according to the owner, the building was condemned following the Whittier earthquake. The Vega Building was demolished in 1992 after officials determined it to be a hazard. The remaining theater building was left sitting vacant in the middle of an otherwise empty lot. One writer notes that the remaining shell "only hints at what this theater was like in its heyday."
Read more about this topic: Golden Gate Theater
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