Belvedere Theatre

251 S. Garey Ave. Pomona, CA 91766 | map |

Opened: September 11, 1911. Thanks to Joe Vogel for researching the opening date. The 1922 Frasher photo is from the Pomona Public Library collection

It's in the 1912/13 city directory as on the "west side Garey Ave bet. 2nd & 3rd." In the 1919/20 directory as "S. Garey near 3rd." In the 1923/24 through 1934 directories at 251 S. Garey. 

Seating: 480 

Architect: Unknown 

 

A 1912 ad from the Pomona Daily Review. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a post on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.

 

A February 1914 ad located by Mr. McIntyre for a Facebook post on Ken's Movie Page. 

 

Thanks to Joe Vogel for researching the next chapter. He comments: 

 

"The Gore Bros. and Sol Lesser took over the Belvedere and American theatres in 1920. The acquisitions were announced in the September 20, 1920, issue of Motion Picture News. When West Coast Theatres, Inc. was formed through the consolidation of the holdings of Gore Bros., Sol Lesser, and Adolph Ramish, the American and Belvedere Theatres in Pomona were among the thirty theaters that became part of the new circuit. The formation of the corporation was noted in the January 19, 1921, issue of The Film Daily."

In David Allen's 2016 Daily Bulletin article about the Sunkist Theatre he notes that Howard Hughes' Hughes-Franklin circuit got the theatre in early 1931. He says:

"By March, Hughes-Franklin owned 125 theaters in California and seven other states, snapping up 18 in one week, including one in Pomona, the Belvedere, at 251 S. Garey Ave. Plans were announced to completely overhaul it within a week’s time with new seats, screen, marquee and the addition of a 40-foot vertical sign."

Closing: It was destroyed by fire November 20, 1933. The State Theatre opened on the site c.1940. 

Status: The site is now a parking lot. 

 

 

 

1924 - A look at the new American National Bank building on the southwest corner of 2nd and Garey. The theatre is the next building down the block on the left. It's a Frasher photo from the Pomona Public Library collection.

 

c.1924 - A postcard from the Pomona Public Library collection offering a sliver of the theatre on the left. 

 

1930 - The Belvedere running Willliam Wyler's "The Storm" with Lupe Velez. It's a photo from the Pomona Public Library collection.

 

 

2019 - Looking south on Garey toward the Fox at 3rd St. The site of the Belvedere and, later, the State Theatre was once just beyond the corner of the bank building seen on the far right. Take a right on 3rd and go west a block and you're at the United Artists. Photo: Google Maps

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page about the Belvedere Theatre.

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