Westlake Theatre
About this property
The Westlake Theatre is a historic theater located in the Westlake section of Los Angeles, California, United States, adjacent to MacArthur Park. The theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Opened on September 22, 1926, the theater had seating for 1,949 patrons, and was used for both motion pictures and vaudeville shows. It was built at a reported cost of $750,000. It was designed by Richard Mortimer Bates Jr., with an exterior in a Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival style. The facade features Churrigueresque detailing of floral patterns and cartouche relief. The interior contains Adamesque references and murals by Anthony Heinsbergen. The theater closed briefly during the Depression for renovations. Exterior renovations in 1935 were designed by noted theater architect S. Charles Lee, and included an Art Deco ticket kiosk made of red-painted metal, unvarnished aluminum and glass; new lobby doors; and terrazzo sunburst paving in the foyer and front sidewalk. One of the theater's intact features is an original steel-frame, three-story neon sign on its roof. The Westlake was operated as a first-run movie theater from 1926 until the 1960s. As the neighborhood's demographics changed, the theater was sold to Metropolitan Theatres Corp., which showed Spanish-language or Spanish-subtitled movies. In 1991, the building was sold to Mayer Separzadeh, who converted the theater into a swap meet. To protect the building from drastic changes, the building was declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in September 1991. The theater was purchased by the now-defunct Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles in 2008. The CRA announced plans to rehabilitate the theater as a venue for live theater, film, music, and other performances. Progress under the CRA/LA was slow. In 2018, the theater was sold for $2 million to Jamison Services, a real estate development company based in Koreatown, which said it had plans to restore the theater. However, as of 2019 the theatre was once again listed for sale, and by 2020 Jamison Services had done no more than apply for permits to alter and repaint the building's exterior.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Westlake Theatre listed on the National Register?
Westlake Theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 2010.
What type of historic resource is Westlake Theatre?
Westlake Theatre is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Westlake Theatre?
The period of significance for Westlake Theatre is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Westlake Theatre?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Westlake Theatre will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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