Los Angeles Theatres: Gardena Theatre

1106 W. Gardena Blvd. Gardena, CA 90247 | map |

Opened: February 1939. The location is on the south side of the street, one building west of Berendo Ave. Berendo is two blocks west of Vermont.

Architect: Clarence Eugene Noerenberg. Thanks to Joe Vogel for researching the project. He comments:

"A couple of issues of Boxoffice in the mid-1940s mention the Gardena Theatre (it suffered a fire in 1945) operated by Harry Millstein and Harry Mellenkoff. It was most likely the unnamed theater being built for Mellenkoff that was mentioned in Southwest Builder & Contractor of October 28, 1938.

"This 800-seat house was designed by architect C. E. Noerenberg, best known for designing a number of branch libraries for the City of Los Angeles, and for Dorsey High School, which he designed in partnership with Hollywood architect H. L. Gogerty."

Seating: 692 is a later number from a Film Daily Yearbook.

An ad from the May 11, 1939 issue of the Torrance Herald.

There was a fire in the theatre on May 3, 1945. It reopened on November 1, 1945. Joe Vogel comments:

"As for the L.A. Times report from 1945 giving the address of the theater as 1002 Gardena Boulevard, I suspect that it was either a mistake, or the lots along Gardena Boulevard have since been renumbered."

The Gardena Theatre appears in this December 31, 1947 L.A. Times listing. The Park Theatre in Gardena was the venue on Crenshaw Blvd. now known as the Gardena Cinema. Both houses were operated by Harry Millstein and Harry Mellenkoff.

A schedule for September 16, 1955. Thanks to Denise Gaskell Snuffin for sharing this on Cinema Treasures. She notes that she took it when she worked the theatre as a cashier.

The stub from Denise Gaskell Snuffin's October 22, 1955 paycheck. She shared it on Cinema Treasures.

Closing: November 1955. The Gardena Department Store later moved into the building.

The theatre building in use as the Gardena Department Store. We're looking east toward Berendo Ave. Vermont is two blocks farther east. Image: Google Maps - 2022. Joe Vogel comments:

"The LA. County Assessor’s office says that the department store building was built in 1938, which is when the theater was built."

And regarding the building on the corner:

"The L.A. County Assessor (not always reliable) doesn't list 1002 W. Gardena, but gives an original construction date of 1924 and an effective construction date of 1940 for the 4625 sq. ft. building on the corner lot at 1004 Gardena, and those dates don’t match the 1938 construction and 1945 reconstruction of the Gardena Theatre."

A look down the alley toward the back of the former theatre, the second building in. Image: Google Maps - 2022. Joe Vogel comments:

"If you take Google’s street view down the alley behind the building you can see to the left of the single rear door that the plaster is separating, in line with the top of the doorway, indicating that there could formerly have been a double exit door at that location. There is also an area at the other end of the rear which looks to have been bricked up, though it is difficult to make out due to layers of paint. That would have been the location of the second pair of rear exit doors. And again, the plaster appears to be separating in a line that would indicate the top of a doorway that has been bricked up."

More information: See our page about the Gardena Cinema, a 1946 vintage house that didn't get named the Gardena until 1995. There's also a page on an earlier theatre in Gardena, the Embassy, located on Vermont Blvd. There was yet another early venue at 918 Palm Ave. in Gardena. In the 1922-23 Watts-Compton city directory and the 1925 Watts directory it's listed as The Auditorium. In the 1927-28 city directory it's listed as the Gardena Theatre.

See the Cinema Treasures page about the Gardena Theatre. Thanks to Joe Vogel for his research. Cinema Treasures also has a page about the later Gardena Cinema on Crenshaw Blvd.

Los Angeles Theatres

Gardena Theatre

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