Opened: 1925 as Rennie's Theatre. John T. and Maude L. Rennie were the proprietors. The building is on the east side of the street between 2nd and 3rd. It's in the 1928, 1930 and 1939/40 city directories as the Rennie Theatre. This 1938 photo was taken by by G. Haven Bishop for Southern California Edison, part of a series to promote the virtues of air conditioning. It's in the Huntington Library collection.
Architect: Edward J. Borgmeyer, according to research by Joe Vogel. He reports: "A history of the San Fernando Hardware Company Building, which was designed by Edward J. Borgmeyer in 1925, says that Borgmeyer also designed the Rennie Theatre, which had opened earlier that year. Although the paper doesn’t cite a source for the claim, it does seem plausible. Before its remodeling, the theater definitely had the look of the mid-1920s, and Borgmeyer was a well-known theater architect by 1925."
Seating: 896 was the capacity listed in the 1941 and 1943 editions of the Film Daily Yearbook, according to Ken Roe. In 1950 and 1952 it was listed as 1,004.
By 1953 it was known as the Sierra Theatre.
A 1953 Valley Times ad for the theatre as the Sierra. The New Town was a house the Rennies had opened as the Towne in 1942. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the ad.
Another Sierra ad in 1953. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this one in the Valley Times.
In 1955 Lou Kane's Sunset Theatres was running both the Sierra and the New Town. The New Town would end up with yet different owners as the Centre Theatre.
In 1957 the Sierra got a remodel and was then called the Crest Theatre.
An August 14, 1957 reopening ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it.
The program cover for the Junior Cosmos Club November 1957 production "Follies of '57" at the theatre. It's in the Cal State Northridge Oviatt Library collection.
The Crest was running Hollywood product until at least 1967. It got enough damage in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake to warrant a closure. Later it went to Spanish language product and after another remodel was renamed the Azteca Theatre.
Closed: Sometime in the 1980s. It was still running quite profitably as late as December 1984.
Status: It's now a church. Don Solosan reported visiting in 2008 when a stage was being constructed and lighting equipment installed. The balcony had been walled off to form a separate meeting space.
1940 - A look at the entrance by Doug White. The main feature is "Hidden Gold," a western with William Boyd. The photo is in the Huntington Library collection.
1957 - A Valley Times photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The photo appeared July 25 and the paper noted that "Within the next two weeks, the old Sierra Theater of San Fernando will have been transformed into the Crest Theater, the Valley's newest and most luxurious film palace. Crews are hard at work to beat the early August premiere deadline."
1957 - A parade view gives us another look at the remodel going on. Thanks to Bill Gabel for finding the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.
1950s - Running as the Crest with a benefit show advertised on the marquee. Thanks to Bill Gabel for posting the photo on Cinema Treasures.
1982 - Thanks to the now-vanished American Classic Images website for this photo from their collection of the theatre as the Azteca.
2011 - Looking north on Maclay with the now-beige theatre on the right in use as a church. Photo: Google Maps
2019 - Photo: Google Maps
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page for a nice discussion.
Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating a December 31, 1984 L.A. Times article on Spanish language theatres in the Valley. Some excerpts:
"The line outside the Azteca Theater in San Fernando begins to form when the Spanish-language Mass ends at a church less than a mile away. Family after family arrived Sunday, close to 900 people eventually filing through the theater doors to see the double feature 'Nino Pobre, Nino Rico' and 'Alla en Plaza Garibaldi.' Many passers-by cannot read what is advertised on the marquee -- the titles mean 'Rich Boy, Poor Boy' and 'There at Plaza Garibaldi' -- and probably have not bought a ticket from the box office in 17 years, when English-language films last played inside. But for the area's large Latino population, the Azteca, along with six other Spanish-language movie theaters, is a regular part of life.
"The huge theaters, with heavy red or gold drapes covering the screens and auditoriums triple the size found in most modern cinema complexes, each weekend attract thousands of patrons -- people able to turn a double feature into a mini-fiesta, and who seem to attend the show faithfully regardless of which movie is playing. 'When we bought the Fox, it was nothing,' said Jorge Bueno, who heads the company that for five years has operated the 660-seat Spanish-language theater on Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys. 'It had been vacant for three or four months. Before that it couldn't survive with those 99-cent action and kiddie films.'
"The Lankershim Theater in North Hollywood had previously shown adult films, a theater in Chatsworth had been vacated and three other movie houses played host to hundreds of empty seats every night, operators said. Of the seven Spanish-language theaters in the Valley, four are run by Metropolitan Theatres Corp., which operates 30 Spanish-language and 28 English-language theaters in Southern California. The Azteca in San Fernando and the Cinema 76 in Chatsworth are independently operated. The Fox is one of nine Spanish-language theaters operated by J. Bueno Corp."
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