Opened: 1925 as the Downey Theatre, the second theatre to be built in the downtown area and the second using that name. The building entrance is on the east side of the street just south of 3rd St. The stage end of the building backs up onto 3rd. The 1939 photo comes from the Downey Conservancy's collection on Flickr. The features are "Frontiers of '49," a 1939 release with Bill Elliot and "She's Dangerous," a 1937 release with Tala Birell and Walter Pidgeon.
Architect: Schilling and Schilling of Long Beach. Thanks to Joe Vogel for the research. He found a reference to an item in the Southwest Builder and Contractor issue of March 13, 1925 announcing a theatre project on 3rd St. to be leased by L.R. Mathews, owner of another theatre at the time called the Downey. That house, earlier called the El Teatro, was at 11126 Downey Ave.
The April 10 issue of SB&C again mentioned the project. Finally in the May 15 issue it's noted that the project at Crawford St. (as Downey Ave. was then called) and 3rd St. was being designed by Schilling and Schilling. L.R. Matthews was again mentioned as the lessee. The owner was Mrs. Ada B. Adams, who was also building the Meralta Theatre at 10912 Downey, a house that opened in 1926.
Seating: 850
The facade originally featured a lovely brick arch, later covered. The theatre had a full stage with fly capability for the live shows that originally accompanied the films and about 15 dressing rooms in the basement under the stage. Restrooms and a cry room were upstairs adjacent to the booth. In the 40s it was called the Victory Theatre.
Joe Vogel located an item in the April 16, 1949 issue of Boxoffice noting that the Cummings circuit would spend $200,000 on remodeling its Victory and Meralta Theatres, and that the Victory would be renamed the Avenue Theatre. The theatre got a new exterior with a stylish pylon and a single readerboard jutting out from the facade. The reopening was on April 30.
In the early 50s the screen was moved out in front of the original proscenium for CinemaScope. The theatre got another remodel in 1963. Ken McIntyre found this item in a January issue of Boxoffice:
That work on the Meralta was old news -- it had been completed in 1961.
The top of the theatre's stagehouse was removed at some time after 1963. The Avenue slid toward second run status in the 70s.
Ken McIntyre spotted an a long article in the February 22, 1981 issue of the L.A. Times about Downey’s changing ethnic makeup. The theatre operators at the time were three Bueno brothers, Javier, Jorge and Juan. They were showing Spanish language films. The article noted that the programming wasn't popular with everyone: someone fired a few shots into the theater’s front door.
Closing: It closed in 2003 and was purchased by the City of Downey.
The Downey Conservancy tried a petition drive to save the theatre in 2010 and revived it in 2013. 758 signatures on the petition wasn't enough to convince the City of Downey to restore the building. The city said at the time that they would have been happy to sell it if someone wanted to operate it as a theatre.
The front was fixed up with murals to make it look like the theatre was alive and running "West Side Story" or "Casablanca." The only use the theatre got were rentals for a few minor film shoots. The building was sold in 2019 to Downey Restaurant Group. Thanks to Luis Enrique Lopez for locating "Proposed buyer of Avenue Theatre asks to extend close of escrow," March 2019 Downey Patriot article. They noted:
"In January 2018, the Planning Commission approved Downey Restaurant Group’s redevelopment plans that called for two restaurants – Avenue Pizza and Crawford Brewery – and a rooftop lounge. Building plans have been slowed, however, 'due to the complex nature of the old, deteriorated, and obsolete use and design of the former single screen theater building,' city officials wrote in a report to the City Council."
It was all stripped down to the studs in 2019 and construction was underway for it to become a craft brewery and pizza parlor.
Interior views from 2007:
Care to check out the lobby light fixtures? Photo: Rundfunkpunk - Flickr - 2007
On the stage. Note the left channel speaker system out in front of the proscenium. The theatre used to have fly capability but they later removed the top of the stagehouse. Behind that upstage door you're just in an exit passage from the front of the auditorium. Photo: Rundfunkpunk - Flickr - 2007
A view down from upstairs. Photo: Rundfunkpunk - Flickr - 2007
A view across to stage left. The doorway leads to 3rd St. and was used as exit doors for the audience after the stage was no longer used. The brightly lit area below the doorway was once the location of stairs to basement dressing rooms, evidently now all filled in. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - June 2020
Offstage right looking into the house. Note the remains of the stage electrical system. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - June 2020
A look from the stage along the house left wall. Note the seismic bracing. Also note conduit going to the side wall niches for decorative lighting. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - June 2020
A view back to the booth. Photo: Michelle Gerdes - June 2020
More exterior views:
late 1930s - A sliver of the marquee off to the left. It's a photo on Flickr from the Downey Conservancy.
late 1930s - We're looking northwest along Downey Ave. with Firestone Blvd. being the second horizontal street up from the bottom. The Avenue Theatre is visible and, beyond it with the taller white stagehouse, is the Meralta at 10912 Downey Ave. Thanks to Joe Vogel for spotting this one on Flickr from the Downey Conservancy.
late 1930s - A detail from the Conservancy's photo. Downey Ave. is on the left with the very light-colored Meralta Theatre perpendicular to the street. There's a white building this side of the Meralta, and then we get the stage end of the Avenue backing onto 3rd St. The top of the stagehouse was later removed. The Avenue's lobby and entrance are to the left of the auditorium.
1940s - A view looking southwest with the Meralta in the lower third toward the right and the stage end of the two-toned Avenue Theatre up a block backing onto 3rd St. Thanks to Larry Latimer and the Downey Historical Society for the photo. The organization also has a Facebook page.
c.1948 - A look at the Avenue in its Victory Theatre days. They're running "The Last Days of Boot Hill," a November 1947 release. The photo appears on Flickr from the Downey Conservancy.
1949 - The theatre was celebrating and showing off their new facade by running a couple of oldies: "Wake Island," a 1942 release, along with "So Proudly We Hail" from 1943. The photo is on Flickr from the Downey Conservancy. It had appeared in a c.1950 ad from E.R. Cummings Theatres that also included Mr. Cummings' nearby Meralta Theatre.
1960 - Looking south on 3rd toward the theatre. They were running "Pepe." It's a photo on Flickr from the Downey Conservancy.
1961 - A view north on Downey Ave. from Firestone Blvd. with the Avenue and Meralta theatres visible in the distance on the right. It's a photo appearing on page 87 of the 2010 Arcadia Publishing book "Downey" by Larry Latimer and the Downey Historical Society. The page with this photo is part of the preview on Google Books. The book also has two much closer photos of the Meralta Theatre on page 73. The book is available from Amazon or your local bookseller.
1963 - The facade stripped bare for another remodel. It's a photo on Flickr from the Downey Conservancy. Over on the left note "Avenue Theatre" on the side of the stagehouse. They hadn't lopped off the top of it yet.
1963 - A look at the crowd for the local premiere of "West Side Story." The initial 57 week 70mm roadshow run had been at Grauman's Chinese from December 13, 1961 until January 17, 1963. It's a photo from the Downey Conservancy that appeared on the now-vanished site Moviemorlocks.com. A cropped version of the photo appears on page 79 of the 2010 Arcadia Publishing book "Downey" by Larry Latimer and the Downey Historical Society. Browse the preview of the book on Google Books.
1973 - Looking north on Downey Ave. with "Cabaret" and "Sterile Cuckoo" playing at the Avenue. The vertical of the Meralta is down the street. Thanks to Louie Linares for sharing the photo on the Southern California Nostalgia Facebook page.
2002 - Thanks to Craig Charlton for this shot, appearing on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre.
2007 - Thanks to Rundfunkpunk for this photo, one of 25 in his "Downey" album on Flickr. The theatre had closed in 2003.
2007 - The entrance, minus its boxoffice. Photo: Rundfunkpunk - Flickr - 2007
2009 - Ahhh. Plants do make a difference, don't they? Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for her photo. It's one in her fine Theatres - California set on Flickr.
2013 - Just pretending to be in business. They hired a muralist to make the theatre look alive again. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for sharing his photo as a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
2019 - Looking south on Downey Ave. No, they weren't really running "Casablanca." It was just a later version of their street beautification program. Photo: Google Maps
2019 - Around the back. We're looking west on 3rd toward Downey Ave. The vertical for a Krikorian multiplex is down in the next block. Photo: Google Maps
2024 - Open at last! It's now the Avenue Pizzeria. Thanks to Chris Nichols for sharing his photo in Facebook and Instagram posts on March 6. Thanks to Jesse Vega for spotting the IG post. Chris is a senior editor at Los Angeles Magazine and the author of the Taschen book "Walt Disney's Disneyland."
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page about the Avenue for some fine research by Joe Vogel about this building and other Downey theatres. Cinema Tour also has a page.
Visit the website of the Downey Conservancy. And check out their photo collection on Flickr. They also have a Facebook page. There's also a Downey Historical Society. The organization also has a Facebook page.
Joe Vogel also came across a theatre project proposed in 1924 for the northwest corner of 2nd St. and Crawford, now Downey Ave. It was to be a 900 seat theatre for John Baker designed by architects and engineers Henry Carlton Newton and Clifford A. Truesdell, Jr. The plans were discussed in the May 30, 1924 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor. The publication's previous issue had described the proposed building as 106' by 140' with the theatre, nine storefronts, plus sixteen second floor offices.
Joe also notes that in 1946 a 400 seat theatre was proposed for 12409 Paramount Blvd., in an area then called Hollydale, now part of Downey.
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