Los Angeles Theatres: Pantages/Arcade Theatre: office building

A 1909 section of the building by Morgan and Walls. It's drawing #3810 in the archives of Morgan, Walls & Clements, the successor firm, at the Huntington Library.

Plans for the building at the Huntington start with drawing #3787. From there you can page forward through the set. The last for this project is drawing #3818. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating these. Visit the Index to the MW&C Drawings that he's been compiling for his Historic Theatre Photography site. There's also an index by Mike Callahan on Internet Archive.

Renovation news: Joe Hellen's Downtown Management Co. applied for permits in March 2018 to do extensive work on the office building floors. The architect was David Alan Kaplan of Santa Monica. The project included:

-- #18016-10000-06443 / job #B18LA03993 - bring building into compliance with highrise retrofit ordinance, do upgrades to stairwell and elevator lobbies on each floor, install unisex restrooms

-- # 18043-10000-00635 / job #M18LA00699 (issued 5/15/18) - install fire sprinklers and standpipes each floor, fire pump

-- #18042-10000-05442 / job #X18LA03812 (issued 3/2/18) - misc. piping and vents

-- #18041-10000-09351 / job #E18LA01163 (issued 9/25/18) - high rise building electrical upgrade, install new 800A service, new panels and circuits, backup generator. The total area covered is 23,778 s.f.

As of 2024 the upper floors remain unoccupied. There's only one retail tenant, in the north storefront.

A 1909 main floor plan, drawing #3802. The office building entrance, elevator and stairs are seen in the upper right. In the lower right corner is a retail space. There are 6 floors of office space above the street level. In later years when the upper floors weren't in use, that office building lobby was used as retail space.

A 1909 basement plan by Morgan and Walls. It's on the Huntington Library site as drawing #3801. The office building portion of the basement under the theatre lobby and the two storefronts is on the right. That set of stairs in the upper right goes up to the office building lobby.

The stairs from the office building lobby at basement level. From the looks of this, one would assume that it was intended for public access down to some sort of tenant. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

We're still in the big space under the theatre lobby but have turned 90 degrees to face Broadway. The stairs up are at the extreme left of the photo.

Note the sprinkler shut-off for this end of the building. The basement was sprinkled with some of the work being quite recent, including some new sprinkler heads. The main sprinkler shut off for the stage system is in the trap room, centered up against the back wall.

Take a look at the doorway at the right side of the Broadway wall -- that gets into an electric room. This side of that, behind the green/pink wall, is the boiler room. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

The basement electric room in the extreme northwest corner of the basement. If we were to turn around 180 degrees, we'd be looking at the back of the boiler room. This fairly new 600A 3 phase service is fed off Broadway. The main service for the building was, at the time of the photo, half way back along the south wall of the basement, under the auditorium. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

The east wall of the space under the lobby. Ahead we're looking at the south wall of the building with the stairs going up and out to the exit corridor along the south side of the building. If we were to turn around 180 degrees, we'd be looking at the entrance to the boiler room.

The first doorway at the left goes up a ramp to the ladies lounge area under the back of the auditorium. The second doorway gets you into a corridor underneath the south side of the auditorium pointed toward the stage. Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

An office building 2nd floor and theatre mezzanine plan from the Huntington Library, drawing #3803.

The footprint of the office floors is rather small, less than 2,500 s.f. per floor. The width of the office building portion of the structure is only 50'. In addition to the stairs seen on the plan, exit from the building's upper floors is also by fire escape on the south side of the building. It was a later addition.

On the 2nd floor. Don't you love those great windows? Photo: Bill Counter - 2011

Another 2nd floor view. Thanks to the Hellen family's Downtown Management Co. for the photo. It's one that had been on their now-vanished site DowntownFilming.com.