Theater Building
The theater seated nearly 1,500 people and was located at one of the major intersections on the east side of Los Angeles, at the corner of Whittier and Atlantic Boulevards. The theater was built by Peter Snyder, known as the "Father of the East Side," and designed by architects William and Clifford A. Balch, creators of the El Rey Theater on Wilshire Boulevard and the Pomona Fox Theater in Pomona, California. It was designed in the ornate Churrigueresque style, and the entrance replicated the portal of Spain's University of Salamanca. When plans for the theater were announced in 1927, the Los Angeles Times reported:
"This week will mark the beginning of building operations on the theater project on Whittier Boulevard in Golden Gate Square. The theater proper will seat about 1500 persons, it is declared and will contain thirteen stores. There will also be several apartment units. It is planned as a legitimate playhouse, but will be equipped for motion pictures as well."
The theater was originally located in the courtyard of the L-shaped Vega Building, a retail structure that wrapped around the theater. The Vega Building was known for its four-story octagon tower.
Los Angeles County records describing the basis for the landmark designation describe the complex as one with "a sense of time and place. The majority of its structural features, including its conformation, detailing and decorative elements, have been unaltered. As a result, the building has clearly retained a sense of architectural integrity and original design."
Read more about this topic: Golden Gate Theater
Famous quotes containing the words theater and/or building:
“Be reflective ... and stay away from the theater as much as you can. Stay out of the theatrical world, out of its petty interests, its inbreeding tendencies, its stifling atmosphere, its corroding influence. Once become “theatricalized,” and you are lost, my friend; you are lost.”
—Minnie Maddern Fiske (1865–1932)
“... what’s been building since the 1980’s is a new kind of social Darwinism that blames poverty and crime and the crisis of our youth on a breakdown of the family. That’s what will last after this flurry on family values.”
—Stephanie Coontz (b. 1944)