Roosevelt Theatre

12250 Hawthorne Blvd. Hawthorne, CA 90250 | map |

Opening: Although it was reported as being "under construction" in 1925 it never opened. It was to have been operated by West Coast Theatres, a project of their subsidiary Venice Investment Co. The new theatre was to be on the east side of Hawthorne Blvd. 400' north of Broadway. 

It could be that West Coast was trying to get the lease on the newly announced  Plaza Theatre and when that failed they decided to build their own house nearby.

Architect: John Paxton Perrine

Seats: It was announced as going to be 1,200.  

 

 

A January 10, 1926 announcement. Thanks to Jerry Miles for locating it. Although the Plaza Theatre was supposedly in the works it wouldn't open until November 1927.

 

"Roosevelt Theater at Hawthorne." This item appeared in the January 17, 1926 issue of the L.A. Times. 

 

An article appearing in the January 17, 1926 issue of the Times. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. No mention is made of the Hawthorne Theatre, which had been operating nearby for several years.

 

 

"This is the real opportunity for YOU in HAWTHORNE." There was a building boom on. This ad for property in the area from the January 17, 1926 issue of the Times only mentioned the new Roosevelt Theatre three times. 

 

Another 1926 news item located by Ken McIntyre. 

 

Status: It was all fake news. Well, if it was indeed under construction it was soon abandoned. It's not known what else was built on the site. That location today is in the middle of the defunct Hawthorne Plaza shopping mall. 

More information: See the page about the Plaza Theatre, opened in 1927. Hawthorne's earlier theatre, the Hawthorne, was later called the Rex and the Cal. It survived into the early 1950s.  

Many thanks to Jerry Miles for sharing his research. Cinema Treasures has a page on the Rex which has some data about that one on Broadway co-mingled with information about the Roosevelt. 

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