Linda Lea Theatre
251 S. Main Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90012
251 S. Main Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90012
9 people
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Good news- construction has finally begun on this theater! The current owners of the building have partnered with ImaginAsian Entertainment, a conglomerate that owns The ImaginAsian theater in New York City as well as a cable network, ImaginAsian TV, to completely renovate the theater and open it back up. The name will be changed to The ImaginAsian Center or The ImaginAsian Center at Linda Lea (I’ve read both), and the programming will be all Asian and Asian American films. All films will be subtitled in English. There will also be multiple festivals and live events.
The theater will be completely gutted, and a new wall-to-wall screen installed. There will be deluxe stadium seating, as well as a VIP section. All new projectors and Dolby Digital EX surround sound will be installed, and the theater will be THX-certified. Beer and wine will be sold, and there will be a rooftop smoking deck/beer garden.
I’m excited- I moved into a condo on the block recently, and there’s a distinct lack of anything to do after dark. I was hoping someone would reopen the theater, but I’m delighted that it will maintain the asian roots of the original Linda Lea. I spoke to a representative of the owner in front of the theater last week- and they told me there were going to be all kinds of special events here, including a $2 kung fu matinee on the weekends!
She said opening was likely to be sometime this fall, as they first had to gut the building because it was all rotten inside after years of disuse.
A July 2005 photograph here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cgcampillo/27473713/
Here is a photo, courtesy of you-are-here.com:
http://www.you-are-here.com/theatre/linda_lea.html
a favorite building in los angeles
I have seen this theater many times in my travels through downtown Los Angeles. Given the current renaissance, such as it is, I would like to see some use made of this interesting property.
I do hope someday my film shown here…
Wow what great news, shows a theatre can find life again after 20 years.
From Downtownnews.com:
“The projector will roll once again in the long-dark Linda Lea Theater at 251 S. Main St., as part of a partnership between a new owner and a group of community arts leaders.
Plans are underway to reopen the Linda Lea Theater. The space at Second and Main streets has sat vacant since the 1980s. Photo by Gary Leonard.
The Little Tokyo Service Center Development Corp. (LTSC), along with local arts leaders who will operate the space, plan to revive the 500-seat theater with independent film screenings, film festivals, community events and possibly a rooftop bar. In keeping with the theater’s Japanese history, a concessions stand will include items such as Japanese sweets, edamame, sake, soju and beer.
“It will be an independent theater, but we’re not going to try and compete with places like Laemmles,” said Nic Cha Kim, co-founder of Gallery Row, a collection of art exhibition spaces along Main and Spring streets. “We want to make the theater itself an experience.”
Broker Sandy Bleifer of DownTown Enterprises represented the seller, the Los Angeles-based Grace family, and the buyer, an undisclosed family foundation. Escrow closed in late December. The purchase price was not released.
“We had maybe half a dozen interested parties, but because of the special nature of the project, the Graces were very attached to the property,” Bleifer said. “They always wanted to see it come back to life. One of the things that attracted the new owners to the property was the opportunity to have an ongoing relationship with the Little Tokyo Service Center.”
Kim will serve as artistic director, and will operate the theater along with fellow Gallery Row founder Kjell Hagen, and partners Jared Hungerford and James Kirst.
The 7,700-square-foot Linda Lea, which closed in the 1980s, was one of only three theaters in Los Angeles to screen Japanese language films. During its heyday in the 1960s, visitors would flock to see the latest samurai drama produced by the Toei film company.
“I always thought it was a beautiful building. Who wouldn’t want it?” said Kim. “We’ve had this project in our minds for five or six years, and drew up plans to renovate it long before it was for sale.”
The LTSC and the operators are applying for a $1.5 million grant from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment. The deadline is April. The dilapidated property is in need of extensive renovation, Hagen said, and the team is in the process of determining a timeline for completion.
“We’re currently trying to get support behind us from many different angles, from the city to the L.A. Conservancy,” said Hagen. "
Very exciting. I would love to watch an Ozu or Kurosawa at this theater…
The Linda Lea was opened as the Arrow Theater, at 251 S. Main Street. The architect was John Kunst, and the original owner was a Mr. George Carpenter. The plans were for a theater to seat 500 people, and two stores. This information is from the announcement of the completion of the plans in Southwest Builder and Contractor issue of 9/19/1924. The listing of the contracts for construction were published in SB&C issue of 10/17/1924.
This theatre was called the Aztec Theatre at one point in the 1940s. The Smell (an all-ages club situated directly next door) was planning to expand into the Linda Lea space but perhaps this is not the case now. Rather it be a theatre, though!
This article about the LINDA LEA THEATRE appears on this site: View link
Since the article may be removed at any time, it is reproduced here:
COMING SOON TO THE LINDA LEA
Encore Performance in the Works for Historic Main Street Theater
by Kathryn Maese
The Linda Lea Theatre has been closed for nearly 30 years, but for its former patrons, memories of Sunday afternoons spent watching the latest samurai drama churned out by the Toei film company are as vivid as ever.
The Linda Lea Theatre at 251 S. Main St., which once screened Japanese films, has been closed since the 1980s. Photo by Gary Leonard.
In its heyday in the 1960s, the Linda Lea at 251 S. Main St. was one of only three theaters in Los Angeles to screen Japanese language films. But like the economy, the theater eventually fell on hard times, and was shuttered in the ‘80s.
Now, a faded plastic marquee with pastel renderings of a geisha and butterflies flitting among bamboo branches reminds passersby of the once vibrant movie house.
But like any good plot twist, the curtain may rise once again thanks to a new cast of characters. The Grace family, which owns the Metropolitan News Company and bought the theater in the mid-‘80s for storage, is looking for a new owner or long-term operator to bring the 7,700-square-foot space back to life.
To bolster the effort, the Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corp. (LTSC) plans to apply this summer for grants from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment to help launch a $1.5 million renovation of the space.
“[Jo-Ann] Grace expressed her desire to renovate it as opposed to having someone buy the property from her just to pave over it and landbank it,” said Ron Fong, who is spearheading the project for LTSC. “We see the theater as a longtime cultural community resource. We’d love to help bring it back, but we don’t see ourselves as an arts programmer.”
Sandy Bleifer, a broker whose firm Downtown Enterprises is listing the property, said the LTSC’s involvement in the project provides a “unique window of opportunity” to restore the Linda Lea, since most theater operators cannot afford costly historic renovations.
“The owner has always wanted to bring that theater into the life of the community,” Bleifer said. “It would cost so much for power to use the theater and most groups can’t pay rent. If we can get tenant improvements at no cost to the owner, then we have an operating theater and a place where events can take place.”
As part of the deal, the new owner or tenant would be required to offer film screenings, theater productions or community events at least once a week, most likely on Tuesday or Wednesday, and one weekend a quarter. Bleifer said the LTSC would oversee programming.
So far, the LTSC has received several inquiries from potential operators, and Bleifer said she is considering holding a competition for proposals.
Across the street, Inshallah Gallery owner Kjell Hagen has eyed the theater for some time. Hagen opened his gallery five years ago, and has slowly built momentum for a Downtown arts community. Last month, the city granted Hagen and partner Nic Cha Kim permission to create Gallery Row, a 26-block area along Main and Spring between Second and Ninth streets.
As part of an effort to continue the neighborhood’s growth, Hagen said he plans to submit a proposal to screen independent films in the space, with theater performances several times a year.
“We would show all different types of films, without boundaries,” he said. “We would make the theater into a sort of collapsible accordion stage. In the concessions stand, instead of selling traditional candies and popcorn, we would have Japanese sweets and edamame. We also want to serve Japanese beer and sake.”
Curb Appeal
The renewed interest in restoring the Linda Lea is part of a larger restoration occurring on the block. The theater lies at the entry point to Gallery Row, and is surrounded by new loft and condo buildings, the soon to open Little Tokyo Branch Library, and the former St. Vibiana’s Cathedral, which is being converted into apartments and a performing arts venue. The Smell nightclub is in the alley directly behind the theater.
“This project dovetails nicely and is in the ideal location,” Bleifer said. “It weaves together the surrounding districts like Little Tokyo, the Civic Center and Historic Core rather than balkanizing them.”
The Linda Lea, built in the mid-‘20s, is one of only two theaters left along Main Street (the other is the Regent Theatre). At the time, Main Street boasted nearly 20 small to medium theaters, ranging in size from the 248-seat Novelty to the 2,100-seat Hippodrome. Most of the larger, more ornate movie palaces are two blocks away on Broadway.
The theater’s white facade is covered with grime, and iron gates close off the ticket windows. Cracked signs with missing letters announce the schedule for long-gone matinee and evening showings. Inside, stained stucco walls are hung with iron wall sconces that once cast a glow on the 500-seat space. Though the original chairs were removed long ago, stacks of old metal seats Bleifer salvaged from the Orpheum Theatre await restoration. Upstairs, the whine of the projector is quiet, as is the “crying room” where mothers tried to shush restless children.
“There’s an interesting combination of historical layers here,” Bleifer said. “It’s not just that this theater was built in the ‘20s when there was a boom in this area, but it has an important social element where Japanese films were screened.”
page 1, 6/7/04
As one of the few Japanese-themed theatres in the nation, this venue is of interest alone; let us hope it finds a sympathetic restorer/operator. There was also a color photo of the main facade along with the above article.
My former employer, The Grace Company, owns this property that is located behind their main office on Spring Street. It has been used as a storage space. At the time of my employment I was unaware of this fact. They are currently looking to sell this property for potential use as a performing arts space and a space that could be used to screen films to tie into nearby Little Tokyo and the developing arts district.