NuWilshire Theatre
1314 Wilshire Boulevard,
Santa Monica,
CA
90403
1314 Wilshire Boulevard,
Santa Monica,
CA
90403
26 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 261 comments
And the Criterion Theatre in Santa Monica. At least there is a theatre there, and the former theatre’s facade.
The facade is only the front of the building. The investment company can incorperate the use of the facade into whatever they plan to design in the new building if they want to develop. Developers have saved many facades of buildings but razed the rest of the building. The only way in today’s film market is to save the facade and build a new building with a larger screen number plex on the site. The cost of the land on Wilshire Blvd. is very high and the rent for a theatre would be the same. (HIGH) It’s Great that Santa Monica did something right, but the building would look sadder as a facade without a theatre with it. Look at the La Reina Theatre in Sherman Oaks.
I bet it looks like a disaster, but they could remodel…
That would be great, but wait until you see the image I’m going to take and send to you…
Great News. Perhaps they’ll give up the retail idea and let it be a theatre again.
The NuWilshire’s facade is now declared as a city landmark! Check out todays issue of the Santa Monica Daily Press of details. According to it, the exterior of the theatre will remain the same. On Monday, the Landmars Commision declared the theatre exterior a city landmark, despite the plans for Soundview Investment Group to change everything on the outside. The inside however, will be up to them, but the exterior of the building will remain the same. This is great news! Now, people can regognize what a great theatre this was, in addition to it being practcially the last art-deco style art house in Santa Monica.
That was here in Seattle at the old Ballard Denny’s. (Building was not originally a Denny’s)
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Seattle saves a Denny’s. LA and Santa Monica can’t save the National and the NuWilshire. Glad I left. The whole Denny’s deal here in Seattle triggered a slew of newspaper articles about the need to preserve post-war modern architecture from the 40’s to 70’s as well the debate that “just because it ain’t old doesn’t mean it isn’t significant”. That’s what I have been saying about the National all along. I used to live a few blocks from the NuWilshire and loved it (split and all!) because it was my neighborhood theatre and it had charm, but my heart was with the National. I have to travel to LA next week and I know I’ll find a hole in the ground.
I was reading a news story the other day about a Denny’s restaurant, I can’t recall the city. The owners actually applied for the historic designation themselves as they didn’t want someone else to do it. This backfired, however, as the local commission then approved the status. The owners' goal was demolition, not renovation.
Went to the Landmarks Commission hearing last night, but after two and a half hours, they were still talking about the ficus trees on 2nd and 4th streets. At that point I left. I don’t know how long those meetings usually run, so the matter might have gotten pushed to their next date.
I have noticed that the floor was already torn, along with rubble from the ceiling. Since the next meeting for making this a Landmark is going to be held at a later and unknown date, it seems the owner wants to destroy what is left of the lobby – which would have to stay according to Historical Landmark laws – so there would be nothing left to save.
The NuWilshire Theatre was part of the Fox West Coast Theatre chain, which was a merger of West Coast Theatres and Fox at the time. Which later became National Theatres then National General Theatres before being sold the Mann Theatres in the 70’s. When Mann Theatres dropped the house it became a Landmark Theatre location. There were Fox Theatres in many parts of the country, some were part of different sub-companies of Fox West Coast Chain and others were sold off and operated by other companies.
BIGTIME Yes, there used to be old broadway shows at one time at the theatre. The curtains were there as well since last I went there, which was the last day of moving all the film equipment out of the theatre; which was back in early November. It should still be there today. I took photos of behind the stage and I’ll upload some images of the curtain company and all as soon as I can! Also, a former co-worker tore a little hole to see what was on the front of the backdrop curtain, and she said it was something that was salmon color or something of that sort, but nothing else.
SinisterBanana…did you happen to work for a Fox theater chain based out of Reading Pennsylvania?
I have no idea who Donald Fox is, and I still do not understand why you put that link in your comment, since it doesn’t say anything about Fox theatres.
Fox is of course William Fox (née Fuchs) who founded a studio that eventually became 20th Century Fox. I think you need to learn some Hollywood history.
Uh, it says it right on the description. “Originally a Fox theater when it opened in 1931, the Wilshire was later taken over by Mann Theatres and turned into a twin in the mid 1970’s.” I worked at a Fox theater as a teenager, that is why I was asking.
http://0mg.com
Bigtime, I’ll be at the meeting. I sent in a photo of the back of the theater from the outside, the fly space(sticks up from the rest of the building), in the hopes that it would be “landmarked” and more of the building would be left. That part of the theatre is where the curtains would rise up into for a live show. I think that means that there was at one time live shows there such as vaudville. Doess anyone know if there are any curtains left there?
Nushboy, yes, I’m thinking of attending.
Same here, at first I thought it was just SPAM or something.
I don’t see anything about Fox theatres at that link.
When they say Fox Theaters, do hey mean the same theater chain that is owned by Donald Fox?
http://0mg.com
I looked inside and the concession stand and everything is still there. All the doors are there, however the floor is torn up and there is rubble practically all over the lobby.
Does this mean that the interior has been demolished?
Hey, Don will you be there tomorrow?
Yeah, my friend and I were there are few days ago, just looking at the rubble and mess. And to think, this place was flourishing with life not two months ago. It’s totally unreal.
It’s amazing how fast things fall apart. There’s water leaking from underneath the marquee, trash strewn about.
There’s another hearing tomorrow night about the Landmark Designation Application. 7 p.m., at City Council Chambers, City Hall, room 213. That’s at 1685 Main Street in Santa Monica.