Los Angeles Theatres: Pantages/Arcade Theatre: lobby areas

A detail from the November 1909 main floor plan by Morgan & Walls. That's the office building lobby at the top. Note the boxoffice squeezed in between the elevator and the stairs down to the basement. Later that was abandoned and the theatre got an island boxoffice out near the sidewalk. Thanks to William Cervera for the plan. Also see the full main floor plan this was taken from.

The stairs to the mezzanine are on the house left side of the foyer. The other stairs seen at the top and bottom on the left side of this detail are exits from the mezzanine level out to the side exit passages. Near those stairs house left is a single-stall restroom labeled "ladies retiring room." A set of stairs near that, not seen on this plan, went to the the men's room in the basement. Later the men got this main floor restroom and a more elaborate ladies lounge was built-out in the basement.

An "alterations" plan dated August 1910 from the Morgan, Walls and Clements Archive at the Huntington Library. It's on their site as drawing #3795. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating the drawings for the theatre in their collection. What had been a closet near the office building stairs got turned into a manager's office, with the door relocated. Much later in the theatre's life that area became a men's room.

A section through the lobby, looking at the north wall and stairs to the mezzanine promenade. The stair indicated by dashed lines farther to the right is the exit from the house left side of the mezzanine down to the exit passage along the north side of the building. Above the lobby we're looking at the 2nd floor of the office building. It's a detail from a section drawing down the theatre's centerline. On the Huntington Library's site it can be seen as drawing #3810.

The lobby areas in use as retail space:

Looking in to the retail store that was in the lobby. We're in what had been the ticket lobby, noted as "entrance" on the plans, pointed toward the lobby, indicated as "foyer" on the plans. The 30s vintage island boxoffice had been removed. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

The wall we're looking toward (where the orange terrazzo ends) marked the sets of double doors that separated the boxoffice area from the lobby. The doors had been removed, so there's just a black framed doorway. The horizontal member of the center door frame is visible, probably not original but from a 30s remodel. The wall separating the lobby from the auditorium still in place at this time had similar characteristics and it was obvious that it didn't follow the original lobby lines.

Some original white marble was still on view in the lobby, largely obscured by the slat wall and merchandise. The ceiling out in what had been this boxoffice area was partially sheet metal as it was contiguous with the marquee soffit. The marquee currently on the building dates from the 30s.

The ceiling in the lobby itself had been been dropped from its original height. It's unknown what treasures remained above. This entire space was gutted in 2019 with the ceiling removed as well as the door frames and wall that had separated the lobby from the boxoffice area.

A men's room, single stall, on the main floor house right. This was a later addition. On the original 1909 plans this area is shown as a closet, later it became the manager's office. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

In the lobby looking up above the merchandise toward the mezzanine. The ceiling hatch would get you up for a look at the balcony trusses -- or perhaps an ornate ceiling that had been concealed. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

The view from the mezzanine level down into the main lobby. We're on the north side of the lobby with Broadway out to the right. The doorway between the flat screen TVs on the left went into the office building lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

Looking toward house right on the mezzanine. The brightly lit opening at the right overlooks the main lobby. Ahead is an exit stair down to the south exit passageway and, to the left, the entrance to the house right side of the balcony. The wall on the left used to be just a railing with patrons in this area able to look down into the rear of the main floor seating area. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

The house left end of the mezzanine. That new door leads into the house left side of the balcony. Just out of the photo to the right is an access hole to get inside the structure of the balcony. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

On the mezzanine level looking down the house left exit stairs toward the passageway along the north side of the building. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

Stripped-out during the rehab of the office building:

From near the street, looking in toward the stairs to the mezzanine over on the left. Below and straight ahead, the light we see is onstage. At the far right, a new opening has been cut into the office building lobby. The wall across the space that had once separated the open boxoffice area from the lobby has been removed. As for the ceiling? All gone. Wall surfaces? All stripped to the concrete. Photo: Hillsman Wright - February 2020

There appear to be no surviving photos of this area when the building was still open as a theatre. The building owner, Joe Hellen, pulled permits to rehab the office portions of the building for creative office use. The theatre lobby appears to be a space not covered by those permits. It's unknown what documentation was done of any historic elements that had been above the dropped ceiling or behind the false walls.

In the now-bare lobby, looking toward Broadway. Photo: Hillsman Wright - February 2020

A detail of the ceiling area. Whatever had been there was stripped out up to the bare concrete. Note the new sprinkler work and the grille above the rollup door onto Broadway. This part of the space had once been the ticket lobby with, in the house's movie days, an island boxoffice and display cases. Photo: Hillsman Wright - February 2020. Thanks, Hillsman!

The grille above the rollup door dates from 1910. See a detail from a 1913 G. Haven Bishop photo in the Huntington Library collection where we can look through from the other direction into the ticket lobby. There's a similar grille surviving above the entrance to the office building. See a 2020 exterior view of that one.

In the basement: