Los Angeles Theatres: unbuilt projects

Showing posts with label unbuilt projects. Show all posts

Valley Village Theatre

Laurel Canyon Blvd. between Magnolia and Weddington Valley Village (Los Angeles) CA 91607

The Valley Village real estate broker Bob Symonds put together two different packages to get a theatre built on property he owned. They were nearly a decade apart, with different people involved. Neither came to fruition. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the articles.

Project #1 - 1941:

5201 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Valley Village (Los Angeles) CA 91607 | map |

This would have been on the northwest corner of Laurel Canyon and Magnolia. The operators were to have been Samuel Decker and Bernard Leavitt. The Hollywood Citizen-News noted that they had theatres in Santa Monica, Culver City, Laguna Beach and Eagle Rock.

Seating capacity: 900

Architect: Unknown

This illustration and article appeared in the April 15, 1941 issue of the Hollywood Citizen-News:

Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the story.

Opening: It never happened. The project wasn't pursued.

Status: There's now a Bank of America branch on the corner.

Project #2 - 1950:

North end of the 5200 block of Laurel Canyon Blvd. Valley Village (Los Angeles) CA 91607 | map |

The L.A. Times noted that this one was proposed for Laurel Canyon and Weddington, at the north end of the same block proposed by Symonds for the 1941 project. They reported that it was to be built by Alex Schreiber and Associates of Detroit as the second in a proposed chain. Their first one was the Paradise Theatre in Westchester, a house that opened in August 1950. The company was called Associated Theatres of Michigan.

Seating capacity: A Boxoffice article noted that it would be 1,000 seats.

Architect: Not known. Perhaps it was to be by the team used for the Paradise: Arthur Froelich of Los Angeles and Theodore Rogvoy, based in Detroit.

The project was announced in this January 25, 1950 article in the L.A. Times:

Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the story.

The Valley Village was noted in this August 26, 1950 Boxoffice article about the opening of the Paradise:

They mangled the Detroit architect Theodore Rogvoy's name a bit. The company also was planning a second theatre in the Valley, the 1,800 seat Valley Plaza.

Opening: Well, this second attempt at putting together a deal somehow didn't happen. And that proposed Valley Plaza house wasn't built either.

Status: It's unknown specifically which lot on Laurel Canyon Blvd. was intended for the 1950 theatre but the area is now built up with low-rise buildings of various vintages.

Laemmle / UA - Hollywood and Vine

6309 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles 90028 | map |

Architects: Clifford A. Balch and the firm of Walker and Eisen.

The $250,000 "modernistic type" project was announced in the April 12, 1931 issue of the L.A. Times. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the story. The Times got Mr. Balch's initials reversed. It's C.A. Balch.

Carl Laemmle was proposing to replace the building he owned on the northwest corner of Hollywood and Vine with this new building designed to support additional stories in the future. After a look at the date, the names of the architects, and what we can see of the facade design, it's obvious that it was a theatre intended for the United Artists Theatre Circuit.

The circuit embarked on a big building program in 1931 and 1932, usually selecting locations near Fox West Coast theatres. In this case, they were less than a block from the Pantages, operated by Fox. UATC was having a feud with Fox, claiming they weren't getting decent bookings and terms for United Artists films. Over a dozen theatres were planned, with most getting open by mid-1932. See the page about the Four Star for information about the building program.

Opening: There wasn't one. The existing building on the corner wasn't replaced and continued to house a number of tenants for decades. Since Laemmle owned the building, it frequently advertised Universal releases.

An early 1930s "Frontage Map of Owners on Hollywood Boulevard" showing Carl Laemmle's 118' wide frontage on Hollywood Boulevard at Vine. The map is in the collection of Hollywood Heritage.

The lots shown as owned by the Gore Brothers had been proposed as the site for the Hollywood Theatre in 1920. That never happened but the center of the three Gore lots became the location for the Admiral Theatre, 6321 Hollywood Blvd. It opened in 1940, a rebuild of an existing building. It got a remodel and was renamed the Vine Theatre in 1968. The 1923 vintage building on the Gore lot just west of Laemmle's holdings, at 6315 Hollywood Blvd., became Sardi's Restaurant in 1933.

The Laemmle Building at 6301-6311 is seen in this detail from page 1023 of volume 10 of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that's in the Library of Congress collection. On the LOC site it's image 26 out of 94. The map had been updated as recently as late 1949. The Admiral Theatre is seen at 6321. The Sardi's building is at 6313-6317.

Status: The corner building was demolished around 2008. It's now a parking lot. Sometimes it gets temporary construction as a holiday attraction or exhibit promoting a film or TV show.

An earlier proposal for the lot from Laemmle:

In 1930 he thought he had a New York department store tenant lined up and he was ready to invest $2 million in a highrise. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating this proposal in the January 26, 1930 issue of the L.A. Times.

Views of the corner:

c.1931 - Looking east toward Vine St. with the Laemmle building down there on the corner. Henry's Restaurant, the second building in from the left, would be remodeled in 1940 to become the Admiral Theatre, later rebranded as the Vine. The building in the center with the "Chinese Garden" vertical would be come the location for Sardi's Restaurant in January 1933. It's a detail from a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. On the right it's Vine St. and the Equitable Building, here seen with its added second tower.

late 1932 or January 1933 - A view west from Vine St. Thanks to Glen Norman for locating the photo from the California Historical Society that appears on the USC Digital Library website. The CoCo Cafe was about to open on the corner. The image also appears with "When Hollywood Boulevard Became Santa Claus Lane," a 2012 article by Nathan Masters for the KCET website. On the right note the poster for Boris Karloff in "The Mummy," coming soon to the RKO Hillstreet. The film opened there on January 20, 1933.

1936 - A look west on Hollywood Blvd. The Laemmle building has posters up for their current films. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library's McAvoy/Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs Collection, #HB-169.

1936 - The Laemmle Building with a fire next door at Sardi's. This was in the L.A. Times issue of October 2. The restaurant is over on the left. "Sardi's Cafe Rushes Plans for Rebuilding" was a small article in the November 3 issue. The restaurant reopened and ran until 1945.

1946 - It's Melody Lane on the corner. That chain was owned by Pig 'n Whistle. The Admiral marquee is glowing brightly in the middle of the image. The uncredited photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. This also appears as part of the lovely Noirish Los Angeles post #2330 by GS Jansen featuring several other Hollywood Blvd. Christmas shots by the same photographer.

1947 - A Frasher Foto Card looking west on Hollywood Blvd. across Vine with Melody Lane on the corner and the Admiral Theatre down the block. It appears on Calisphere from the Pomona Public Library collection. The photo also is part of Ethereal Reality's Noirish Los Angeles post #5198, a fun photo survey of the use of banners across L.A.'s streets.

1956 - The corner building had morphed into a Hody's location. It's an image from the Herald Examiner collection at the Los Angeles Public Library.

c.1960 - Thanks to Sean Ault for locating this photo when it was for sale online.

1961 - The Sardi's spot was briefly an Arthur Murray studio. Thanks to John Nelson for locating this 1961 shot for a post on the private Facebook group Southern California Nostalgia. Note the Cinerama neon down the street on the towers of the Warner.

1965 - A view west on Hollywood Blvd. with Rector's Admiral visible on the far left, running "That Man From Rio" and "The Naked Edge." Thanks to Alison Martino for sharing the photo on Flickr where she also has a nice collection of additional historic L.A. photos. The photo also appears on Ryan Khatam's Neat Stuff Blog in a 2009 post called "Vintage Los Angeles."

c.1965 - A wider view with the same Kahlua billboard on Hody's. Thanks to John Davis for locating this one for a post on the Southern California Nostalgia private Facebook group.

2017 - A September view from Google Maps with a haunted house occupying the corner.

More information: You'll find more views of this corner of Hollywood and Vine on our pages about the two buildings just west of the Laemmle Building: Sardi's / Cave Theatre at 6315 Hollywood Blvd. and the Vine Theatre at 6321 Hollywood Blvd.

Also nearby: Hitching Post / Paris Theatre | Pantages Theatre | Hollywood Playhouse / Palace / Avalon | Hartford / Doolittle / Montalban Theatre |

Beverly Theatre - unbuilt

Beverly Blvd. at La Brea Ave. Los Angeles CA 90036 | map |

Date: In 1934 the plans were being drafted for erection of a venue called the Beverly Theatre.

No, it's not the current New Beverly Cinema that's at 7165 Beverly Blvd. This was proposed for the corner of Beverly and La Brea, a block and a half to the east. The New Bev's building had been around since about 1929 but in 1934 it seems to have been a winery.

Architect: Unknown.

This drawing of the proposed Beverly Theatre appeared in the September 22, 1934 issue of the Hollywood Citizen-News. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating it. Which corner of the intersection? Unknown.

Opening: It didn't. The project wasn't pursued.

More information on this one: There isn't any.

The other Beverly Theatres: In addition to the New Beverly Cinema, we had a Beverly Theatre in Beverly Hills that opened in 1925 and ran until 1977. Also in Beverly Hills was the Warner Beverly Hills which was known as "The Beverly" in its last years as a rock concert venue. And there was also the Beverly Canon in Beverly Hills and the Beverly Center Cinemas as well as a General Cinema multiplex across the street from the Beverly Center that was called the Beverly Connection.

Wyatt Park Square Theatre

W. 7th St. at S. Grand View St. Los Angeles, CA 90057 | map |

Architects: Morgan, Walls and Clements

Seating: 1,200

The project was announced with this illustration appearing in the July 13, 1929 issue of the Los Angeles Evening Express. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating it. The caption:

"The above architects' sketch shows the new Wyatt Park Square Theater, to rise at West Seventh and Grand View. Will T. Wyatt heads the enterprise. Morgan, Walls & Clements are the architects. The theater will seat 1200 persons and will be opened in early 1930, it is announced."

A story about other activity on 7th St. that appeared on the same L.A. Express page:

Wilshire Blvd. wasn't cut through the park and on into downtown until the mid-1930s. Thanks, Lisa!

Opening: There wasn't one. The project wasn't pursued.

The site was to be on the south side of what is now called MacArthur Park. Grand View is two blocks west of Alvarado. The proposed location for Wyatt's theatre was about a block and a half west of the Lake Theatre, a house that opened in the mid-1920s. Image: Google Maps

The intersection of 7th and Grand View St. We're looking west with the tower of Bullock's Wilshire in the distance. Image: Google Maps - 2025

More information: There isn't any yet.

Trocadero Theatre

8800 Block of Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069 | map |

More unbuilt projects: Artesia Theatre | Bee Bee Theatre - Santa Monica Blvd. | Life Theatre - Vermont at Imperial | Majestic - 600 block of Broadway - 1904 - see data on the page for the one that DID get built in the 900 block | Morosco Theatre - 7th St - 1920 | Music Box - 1923 - Cahuenga Blvd. | New Hollywood Theatre - c.1917 | New Opera House - 1948 | Pasadena projects: Pantages - Warner - Mission | Roosevelt Theatre - Hawthorne |

Proposed: 1936 for the north side of Sunset Blvd. just west of Horn Ave. Decades later Tower Records was on part of the property. The theatre was never constructed. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating this in the August 9 issue of the L.A. Times.

The Trocadero was a project of L.A. film lab head Joe Aller and eastern film the Gallos Brothers. Their Galbro Theatre Company was to build it. The news items stressed that it would be an ideal venue for studio previews.

Seating: It was announced as 1,600 or 1,800 seats, depending on which article you read.

Projected cost: $300,000

An August 12, 1936 item that Lisa Kouza Braddock located in the Los Angeles Daily News.

An August 13, 1936 story appearing in the L.A. Times that was located by Lisa. See her post on the Lost Angeles Facebook group.

The site had once been a famous avocado orchard operated by Ed Harmon, the "Avocado King." In 1929 a strip of the property was lost due to a widening project on Sunset. See a story down lower. Lisa notes that sometimes his name was printed as Edgar N. Harman. At some point he and his wife retired and leased the property to Central Funding Company of Hollywood in a $935,550 transaction. Lisa comments:

"The leased property included prime real estate at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard, Holloway Drive, and Horn Street, with 140 feet of frontage along Sunset and 278 feet along Horn. On this land stood 78 pedigreed, fruit-bearing avocado trees ranging in age from 17 to 30 years. Two of the 17-year-old trees alone were said to yield $1,550 worth of fruit annually. According to reports at the time, income from both the orchard — considered one of the most productive in the world — and the commercial frontage was sufficient to cover all lease-related expenses."

In 1936 it's unknown how Galbro fitted into this, whether doing a sub-lease from Central Funding or perhaps they bought out the lease and dealt directly with the Harmons.

Looking east toward Horn Ave. in 1936 with the proposed theatre site on the left.

In this November 4, 1936 article in the Hollywood Citizen-News they claimed that it was nearing completion:

Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the article.

Variety seems to have just recycled much of the Citizen-News reporting for their November 11, 1936 article:

"Largest local construction currently is the Troacdero, nearing completion on Sunset Blvd., in the so-called county strip, thickly populated with night clubs. This house, an 1,800 seater, is being put up by Joe Aller of Consolidated Film Laboratories and some midwestern associates, with work being rushed for opening around the holidays."

The full article:

The Franklin Theatre mentioned in the article is now a carpet warehouse in Highland Park. The El Rey is now a music venue, the Lido was around until 1979, the one mentioned on Wilshire at Stanley opened as the Regina, later renamed the Fine Arts. The one at Doheny opened as the Elite and was later renamed the Music Hall.

The broker handling space in a new store building was touting the proximity to the new Trocadero Theatre in this December 14, 1936 classified ad spotted in the L.A. Times by Lisa Kouza Braddock.

As late as January 1937 the trade press still thought the Troc was happening. It gets mentioned in this January 15 Hollywood Reporter story as one of six theatres under construction that were getting RCA sound installations. The one house on their list that didn't also get mentioned in the November 1936 Variety article was the Esquire Theatre, now home to Canter's Deli.

A look east from San Vicente toward Horn Ave. in 1941. Nope, no theatre or anything resembling a 90' illuminated tower.

Thanks to Lisa for locating the 1936 and 1941 images. They make an appearance on the Water and Power Associates Museum page "Early Views of West Hollywood." Martin Turnbull also has them on his site on a page about the block.

A 1950s view of the intersection at Sunset and Holloway. Over on the right it's Horn Ave. and Simon's restaurant, later to be the location of Tower Records. Thanks to Bill Caffrey for posting this on the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles.

Thanks to Tom Anderson for locating this early 1960s shot for a post for the Mid Century Modern private Facebook group.

Sunset at Horn c.1990. It's a photo from the Richard Wojcik collection that appeared on the Classic Hollywood/Los Angeles/SFV Facebook page.

Earlier history of the property:

Avocado grower Ed Harmon was in the November 11, 1915 Morning Tribune because he had a hernia. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the news. See the full story, where Ed is shilling for the Benjamin method. Lisa comments:

"Notably, avocados were originally known as 'alligator pears,' but the name was changed in 1914 by farmers to improve consumer appeal and marketability. Edward Harmon had previously gained acclaim in 1916 when he won silver medals for his avocados at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition."

Plans for taking part of the "famous Harmon avocado orchard" were underway due to a 1929 street widening project. This was in the September 29 issue of the L.A. Times.

Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for all her research!

Nearby: The Tiffany Theatre was a bit east at 8534. Across the street from the proposed Trocadero site at 8816 1/2 was the Cinematheque 16. Down the street at 9000 Sunset it was the Granada.

Life Theatre

Vermont Ave. at Imperial Highway Los Angeles, CA 90044 | map |

Opening: It didn't. It was to be a project for Fanchon & Marco's Southside Theatres but they went with another architect.

Architect: William Pereira

Seating: 1,700 was the announced number.

An item about the new theatre that appeared in the April 24, 1948 issue of Boxoffice.

A drawing of Pereira's design for the Life Theatre made an appearance in a June 19, 1948 Boxoffice spread titled "The 'New Look' in California Theatres." The caption:

"A new unit in the Southside Theatre, Inc. circuit of Los Angeles will be the Life Theatre, 1,700-seat house incorporating modern techniques in design and construction. It will be the first of several new showhouses planned by this firm. Architect: W.L. Pereira."

The other two drawings in the Boxoffice article were of S. Charles Lee's early designs for the Reseda Theatre in Reseda and Bay Theatre in Pacific Palisades. Although both were built, neither ended up looking like these drawings.

The project was still on as late as mid-1948. This item appeared in the August 14 issue of Boxoffice.

More information: The project that Southside Theatres DID build in this area was the Southside Theatre, a design by Clarence Smale that opened in September 1949. The building, now a church, is located at 11243 S. Vermont Ave., a half block north of Imperial Highway.