Opened: The dedication was October 21, 1921. The opening attraction was an L.A. Opera Company production of "The Mikado" with Lawrence Tibbett. The Auditorium is on the left in this view from the Randy Young collection appearing on the Santa Monica Public Library website. Another copy of the card with an August 1922 postmark is on the site Card Cow.
The location was on the ocean side of the Promenade opposite Ashland Ave. The Symmes cafe we see on the card was at the corner of Kinney St. and the Promenade.
The area in front of the Municipal Auditorium Building was frequently used for open air band concerts. In the 1921-22 Santa Monica city directory the address is listed as opposite Ashland Ave. for both the "Santa Monica - Ocean Park Auditorium" and the "Ocean Park Band Plaza." The address was listed as 2810 Ocean Front Promenade in the 1930-31 directory.
Closing: It was used for events into the 50s and then repurposed for Pacific Ocean Park's Westinghouse Enchanted Forest exhibit opening in 1958. POP closed in 1967.
The demise: The structure was destroyed by fire July 12, 1974. The South Beach Park Playground is now on the site.
An interior view:
A December 11, 1951 photo by Del Hagen Studios. Onstage it's the Santa Monica Municipal Band with Ed Wells conducting. The photo is in the Santa Monica Public Library collection.
More exterior views:
1922 - A postcard of the Municipal Auditorium from the site Card Cow. If you care to browse on the Card Cow site: Ocean Park cards | Venice cards | More cards can be found on the Penny Postcards from California site: Santa Monica and Ocean Park | Venice |
c.1922 - A concert photo by Adelbert Bartlett from the Santa Monica Public Library. It's from the Carolyn Bartlett Farnham Collection.
1950 - A city worker cleaning up in front. It's a photo by Clyde V. Fitzgerald on the Santa Monica Public Library website. It's from the Santa Monica Environmental and Public Works Management Collection.
1953 - A photo from the Santa Monica Public Library collection.
1957 - Work beginning to repurpose the building for Pacific Ocean Park. It's a photo from the Osterhout Family collection appearing on the Santa Monica Public Library website.
1958 - The building getting an addition for reuse as POP's Westinghouse Enchanted Forest attraction. It's a January photo from the Osterhout Family collection appearing on the Santa Monica Public Library website.
The Auditorium in the Movies:
More information: Also see the page on the earlier Ocean Park Auditorium, destroyed by fire in 1912. Also see the page about the current Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on Main St., opened in 1958. The listings at the bottom of the Theatres Along the Coast survey page offer some Ocean Park history references.
See Jeffrey Stanton's map of the Ocean Park and Lick Piers - 1929. The Municipal Auditorium is #5 on the map. It's also on his Pickering and Lick Piers - 1923 map in spot #1. The maps are part of his terrific Venice History Site hosted on Westland.net.
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