134 Pier Ave. Ocean Park (Santa Monica), CA 90405 | map |
Opened: October 9, 1905. The operators were John A. Mason and H.C. Wyatt, both of the
Mason Opera House in downtown Los Angeles. The tallest building down the block on the right is the theatre
building. Note the little bump up at the back of what appears to be a
stagehouse. There was retail on the ground floor, the theatre on the second floor, and offices and classrooms above. It's a card from
the collection of the late Chrys Atwood.
Our view is from the
Ocean Park Casino looking east up Pier Ave. On the right is a multi-tenant building on the southeast corner of Pier and the Ocean Front Promenade. The second floor was an establishment called The Wave offering furnished rooms. Just beyond was the alley later known as Speedway. The squat building with the peaked roof beyond the alley offered bowling and billiards at 116 Pier. A nearly invisible single story garage was tucked in at 122. The two-story retail building with the white facade had four storefronts at 126 and 128 Pier. A skinny two-story building beyond that was at 130. The theatre building was at 132-134-136.
The signage on the side is advertising the Ocean Park Business College and their affiliated Ocean Park School
of Music and Art. They had moved in about September 1905. The Business College noted in an ad in the Santa Monica Outlook that they had wanted to be on Pier Ave. when they began but there was nothing suitable. They went elsewhere until this building was constructed. And then, when they got the facilities they wanted, the music and art offerings were added as well.
Seating: 1,000
Architect: Unknown
"Ocean
Park, Cal. -- Crookshank [sic] & Somers, it is stated, have
received a contract to erect a theatre here for H.C. Wyatt of Los
Angeles at a cost of about $35,000."
The issue is on Google Books. Their news was a bit old by the time they had printed it. The Santa Monica Daily Outlook had reported in their June 6, 1905 issue:
"Work
has commenced on the construction of Wyatt's opera house on Pier
avenue. It is thought the structure will be completed and ready for
formal dedication by the first week in August. It will be a natty little
ground floor play house."
Despite that "ground floor" mention, the finished building had the theatre on the second floor. These two items would have led you to believe that Wyatt was the sole
principal. He may have been having financial difficulties that summer.
The Outlook also carried an item about the Wyatt Opera House in Redlands
being up for auction due to unpaid debts. In an item from the June 22 issue of the Outlook we get the
mention of John A. Mason:
"Mason
Opera House Here - John A. Mason, proprietor of the Mason Opera House,
has leased the new theatre which is being erected by Cruikshank &
Somers on Pier avenue and H.T. Wyatt may be the manager. The lease
covers five years from the date of completion. The seating capacity
will be 1,000."
Another item during the construction:
Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this story.
The opening day ad in the Outlook, October 9, 1905.
An article appearing in the Outlook's October 9 edition.
The big story reviewing the opening that appeared in the Outlook's October 10 issue. The Outlook is available on the website of the
Santa Monica Public Library.
W.T. Wyatt, the business manager, was the son of co-lessee Henry Clay Wyatt (1849-1910). One of W.T.'s later gigs was as manager of the
Wilshire Ebell Theatre in the early 30s. The father, in addition to running the Mason Opera House, was also involved in managing the
Grand Opera House and the
Los Angeles/Lyceum Theatre, among other ventures.
The theatre building is seen on the right in this detail from image 29 of the April 1909 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that's in the Library of Congress collection. At the far left it's the Ocean Front Promenade. The street parallel to it with the dotted lines would later be known as Speedway. The north side of the street can be seen on the Library's image 28.
A closer look at the theatre building from the 1909 map. A later view of the block can be seen as image 29 of the 1918 Sanborn Map in the Library of Congress collection but by that time it was a new four-story building on the site.
Closing: Presumably the 1912 pier fire that spread to the Ocean Park business district finished off the theatre building. It's unknown if the space was still operating as a theatre by that time.
Status: The entire area has been redeveloped. Pier Ave. no longer goes through to the beach and the Ocean Front Promenade is no more. A curving bicycle path along the beach is now called Ocean Front Walk. What had been this section of Speedway is now called Barnard Way.
1904 - A view east from Ocean Front Promenade taken before the Seaside Theatre was constructed. It's a California Historical Society photo that's on the USC Digital Library website.
c.1905 - A view down Pier Ave. toward the beach from Trolleyway, the next street to the east. The theatre was on the left, two thirds of the way down the block. It's a photo from the
Los Angeles Public Library collection.
Card Cow has a postcard based on this photo with a July 1907 postmark.
It was a bank on the corner on the left and the signage we see for the Hammel Apartments was at 156-158 Pier. On the right is the Hotel Savoy at 163-167 Pier. Partway down the block on the right the Metropole Hotel was at 133-139. A bit of the
Casino is seen on the north side of Pier at the Ocean Front Promenade but the
Auditorium Building has not yet been constructed.
c.1905 - Another view toward the Promenade, perhaps based on a photo taken from the theatre building. On the left it's the bowling alley that was just east of Speedway at 114 Pier -- note a bit of the "Alley" roof sign. Beyond is The Wave with their "Furnished Rooms" sign in view on that second floor balcony. Across Ocean Front Promenade is the Bandstand on the site where the Auditorium would soon be built and the Casino in the center of the image. It had opened in 1903. The card is from the collection of the late Chrys Atwood.
c.1906 - A view looking across the Promenade and east on Pier Ave. It's on
Shorpy
where you can see a lovely high resolution version. In the foreground
on the left it's an awning at the Casino. The stairs on the right go
into the side of the Auditorium Building.
c.1906 - A detail from the Shorpy image.
c.1911 - A view toward the Promenade. The Seaside building is the tallest building two-thirds of the way down the block on the left. The building beyond on the left beyond Ocean Front Promenade is the Auditorium. The card, a find of Chrys Atwood on eBay, was a post on the page for the non-public Facebook group
Venice, Ocean Park & Santa Monica in the 20th Century. The card had a 1911 postmark. Also see the group's
Pier Avenue Album.
c.1915 - Rebuilding after the 1912 fire. The second building in is the new construction on the Seaside Theatre site. It would be soon occupied by a stationary store and restaurant on the ground floor and the Empress Hotel above. In the foreground the Bradley Building with "Steinarts" on the side is at 128-130. Down the block the signage we see for Mooser is a dry goods company at 156-158 Pier. That's Marine Ave. a block over to the right. The large building there is a Masonic Hall at 162 Marine.
c.1920 - The Dairy Lunch and Hotel on the left are in the new building on the Seaside Theatre site. Down beyond Ocean Front Promenade note the empty horizon without the Auditorium and Casino buildings. The card is from the collection of Chrys Atwood. The reddish building on the right is the Edmund Hotel.
1924 - A May photo showing the damage to the Ocean Park business district following the January 6, 1924 pier fire. Thanks to John Bengtson for locating the photo from the Ernest Marquez Collection that's on the
Huntington Library website.
1924 - The intersection of Ocean Front Promenade and Pier Ave. is at the center of this detail from the Huntington Library photo above.
1924 - Looking east on Pier Ave. in a frame from the film "Soft Shoes." Thanks to silent film detective John Bengtson for spotting the Ocean Park footage 30 minutes into the film. He discusses it in "
Soft Shoes - Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel and Lloyd." He notes that the Ocean Park Dry Goods store seen here had appeared as J.N. Mooser Dry Goods in the c.1915 Huntington Library photo.
1924 - Another frame from "Soft Shoes." Lloyd Ingraham directed the January 1925 release from Producers Distributing Corporation, which
IMDb calls a western. It starred Harry Carey, Lillian Rich and Paul Weigel. The 6 reeler can be seen on
Vimeo from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
2019 - This is the view we get trying to look up Pier Ave. from Speedway toward where the Seaside Theatre once had been. Photo: Google Maps.
More information: The Auditorium Building and the Casino were on the Ocean Front Promenade at the head of Pier Ave. See the pages for those two buildings for more photos of Pier Ave.
If you're looking for postcard views of the area browse on the Card Cow site: Ocean Park cards | Venice cards | On the site Penny postcards from California: Santa Monica and Ocean Park | Venice | Penny Postcards from California.
| back to top | Theatres Along the Coast | Along the Coast - list by address | Downtown theatres | Westside theatres | Hollywood | Westwood and Brentwood | [more] Los Angeles movie palaces | Los Angeles theatres - the main alphabetical list | Los Angeles theatres - list by address | theatre history resources | film and theatre tech resources | contact info | welcome and site navigation guide |
No comments:
Post a Comment