Comments about Westlake Theatre in Los Angeles, CA

monika on July 24, 2008 at 4:49 pm

I am really excited about the swap meet, I love that kind of thing. Thanks for the update, Ken, hopefully you’ll get your book.

kencmcintyre on July 24, 2008 at 4:23 pm

I never did get the free book, by the way.

kencmcintyre on July 24, 2008 at 4:22 pm

I drove by a couple of weeks ago. Nothing was going on, just the usual swap meet confusion, along with a brisk trade in fake drivers' licenses.

monika on July 24, 2008 at 4:17 pm

Has anyone been by the theatre recently? I am doing an LA/Pasadena theatre photo tour this weekend and am wondering if it is still the same/similar as in ken mc’s photos from March or if work has begun.

kencmcintyre on April 11, 2008 at 11:13 pm

This is a 1934 photo, newly arrived on the LAPL site. Besides the theater at the top left, the photo is interesting as it maps out the route that Wilshire Boulevard will take when it cuts through the lake. Some authors have suggested that the decline of the area followed this division. I don’t think that they followed that exact route during the construction, however.
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics48/00073526.jpg

kencmcintyre on April 11, 2008 at 9:36 am

Here is March 2008 article and more photos:
http://tinyurl.com/5upomm

kencmcintyre on March 23, 2008 at 8:19 pm

kencmcintyre on March 23, 2008 at 7:48 pm

I was inside today, for the first time. I took some photos that I will post, but it looks like Ken Roe and I both saw the same things. I don’t think he got the Santas in the balcony, though (you’ll see). I don’t know how he took his photos, but I had to be kind of sneaky about it as the swap meet owners were everywhere. I couldn’t use my flash, either.

I can’t wait until this is restored, if it happens. I almost wanted to shake the people that were buying t-shirts and say “Hey, look up at the ceiling!”

vokoban on January 20, 2008 at 7:03 am

Miracles indeed!!! This is fabulous news….thank you neonrocks. At first I was nervous and fearing that it would be gutted like the Linda Lea or split up like Highland Park but after reading the pdf’s I think it will be done right since the Conservancy and the National Register will be involved. Whoever is in charge has a massive job ahead of them. The last time I was in the space it seemed that the floor had been leveled. How are they going to fix that I wonder?

neonrocks on January 20, 2008 at 1:29 am

An update for anyone who wanders by this page: CRA/LA has purchased the Westlake Theater and is going to restore it! It’s not going to be a swap meet for much longer. I guess miracles do happen:

View link

kencmcintyre on August 13, 2007 at 5:12 pm

If you take a look at the 1935 photo posted on 8/1/07, you can see an interesting building with a marquee (Auto Loans). The LA city directory shows a Deluxe Theater at 656 S. Alvarado, which would be just south of the Westlake. The auto loans building looks like it’s on the corner, so perhaps this was a theater ten years previously. I don’t think the Deluxe is listed on CT.

kencmcintyre on August 5, 2007 at 12:16 pm

Here is another photo from the LAPL, probably about the same time as the photo at the top of the page:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015506.jpg

kencmcintyre on August 1, 2007 at 7:13 pm

I had the same experience when I was at the Alameda theater in East LA. “This was never a theater”, the owner told me. Sure dude, whatever.

vokoban on August 1, 2007 at 6:56 pm

I’m sure with enough money a floor could be un-leveled, but I don’t think anyone in that neighborhood is prepared to spend the money. The clientÃ¨le surrounding the theater don’t seem to even be aware that the building was a theater. When I go in there they look at me like I’m the crazy one looking up at the ceiling.

kencmcintyre on August 1, 2007 at 6:32 pm

Here is a 1935 photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/2yn93w

SingleScreen on June 30, 2007 at 12:07 pm

Can a leveled floor be un-leveled?

kencmcintyre on June 20, 2007 at 2:25 pm

I will try for some photos the next time I’m in the area.

vokoban on June 19, 2007 at 6:34 pm

I go in there often and it is amazing how much is left. However, almost all possibility of a return to a theater is gone since they leveled the floor for the swap meet.

SingleScreen on June 19, 2007 at 5:35 pm

Went by on Monday the 18th and it was open. I was impressed by how much of the original cinema is visible. You can see the proscenium arch, the stairs leading up to the balcony (although well blocked, the balcony area, the windows of the projection booth, and the detail along the sides of the auditorium. Must have been quite a beauty in it’s day!

kencmcintyre on June 14, 2007 at 4:11 pm

That may be the case, although that area seems to be crowded all the time.

SingleScreen on June 14, 2007 at 3:43 pm

I walked by the Westlake on Tuesday (June 12) and the gate was pulled down over the entrance. This was mid-afternoon. Perhaps the swap meet is only open on weekends?

kencmcintyre on June 13, 2007 at 4:32 pm

There was an adult film theater down the street in the late sixties – Cluny’s, 604 S. Alvarado, “torrid girlie films-for men only”.

Bway on February 7, 2007 at 10:49 am

I went past this theater the other day when driving on Wilshire, and even before noticing it’s huge sign, which is still there, I recognized it as a theater, and couldn’t wait to get home to look it up on CT. I passed so many abandoned theaters, now in other uses, or abandoned, and wish I had written the locations down, but figured I’d remember, but it’s easier said than done…my memory isn’t as good as I thought it was!
Anyway, the place is heavily altered on the exterior, or looks “cheap”, but I guess that’s because of the type of store it is now.
Inside though, I couldn’t belive the detail remaining. A true gem worthy of restoring.

GWaterman on January 27, 2007 at 5:14 pm

Wow, Ken, what great photos!

Ken Roe on January 27, 2007 at 3:24 am

Westlake Theatre

638 S. Alvarado Street, Los Angeles, CA 90057

638 S. Alvarado Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90057