![]() It’s funny how some places and things still with you. While looking around I did find pictures of the side space that we would walk along when exiting to go to lunch during the Jehovah Witness conventions – the hand rails still there (not sure why I still remember that). Maybe I’m wrong and they have progressed since “stage 1,” but I doubt it. I hope they ditched the idea of creating 3 levels inside, and just restore it to it’s former glory. I’m saddened but not surprised the way government generally handles things. The Vision Theater website isn’t around anymore, and there aren’t any recent updates in the news. Now 3 ½ years later I return and can find little on what’s happened since then. When I returned after 3 year in 2013, I was surprised that the renovation was moving forward. The Leimert page has dozens of photos, both vintage and recent, and is well worth a visit for anyone interested in this venerable suburban survivor. Sadly, judging from this photo by Bill Counter, dated 2010, the fountain is gone.īoth of those photos are featured on the Leimert / Vision Theatre page of Bill Counter’s excellent web site More Los Angeles Movie Palaces which, along with his sites for downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Wilshire district theaters (all linked from that page) is the most extensive single online resource for information about historic Southern California movie theaters. People have also been asking if the drinking fountain is still there. It’s probably the best we can do for now, though. Unfortunately, the LAPL’s scan is a bit dark and the background detail gets lost, but the fountain is visible, if a bit too contrasty. ![]() ![]() Unfortunately they have linked to the copy at the California State Library, which is an unstable site that doesn’t offer anything like a, so the links are dead.įortunately, the more reliable web site of the Los Angeles Public Library also has a copy of the photo, so I think that link should stay alive. People keep asking about the drinking fountain in the lobby Of the Leimert Theatre, and a couple of members have linked to a photo of the lobby with the drinking fountain at left. In the early-morning of Apthe theatre suffered damage from a fire wich destroyed an adjacent derelict building. In April 2018 it was closed for renovations and plans to reopen in 2021. The Vision Theatre completed a $11 million renovation in 2012. The Leimert Theatre was used as a location for the movie “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate” starring Martin Lawrence. The theatre was later converted into a performing arts center and participates each year in the Pan African Film Festival. The bank foreclosed on the property in 1997 and the city took it over. ![]() The theatre fell on hard times after the 1992 riots and the economic recession which hit this area of Los Angeles. The theatre was renamed the Watchtower in the 1970’s, when the Leimert Theatre was converted into a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall.Īctress Marla Gibbs purchased the theatre in 1990 and renamed it the Vision Theatre. Designed in a classic southern California streamlined Spanish Colonial style, the tall steel frame on top of the lower stucco clad tower originally had the theatres' name on it, and is a landmark for the area.Īfter showing first run films for decades it was closed in 1968 with Warren Beatty in “Bonnie and Clyde”. It became a neighbourhood movie theatre soon after opening and was operated by Fox West Coast Theatres. It was built by multi-millionaire Howard Hughes as a showcase theatre for premieres. A large neighborhood movie palace, this 1931 Spanish-tinged Deco wonder has retained its importance to the community for over 80 years since it first opened as the Leimert Theatre on April 21, 1932.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |