This theater is still there as of January 2015 and still looks the same. Not sure what will ever happen to it since the area is still run down with vacant stores.
I called the real estate office that had the theatre for lease and a few THSA members including myself were allowed inside to tour. The Auditorium is intact except the seats are gone. The Egytian designs still are there and the old fire curtain had painted advertisements for businessess in Pasadena during the 20’s. This is a cool little theatre. Yes the front lobby and snack bar were converted to retail space sometime ago….using it as a theatre again would be near impossible according to the city codes, need certain number of parking spaces now…the projection room has nothing left in it, the bathrooms were remodeled but in disrepair. God knows where the original sign “UPTOWN” went….I went to the movies there in the early ninties or late eighties when it was playing revival films. The for lease sign was taken down over six months ago and there has been nothing done to the theatre still.
This theatre is located at 5253 W. Adams Blvd. just west of La Brea. I drove by it last week and it is very closed. There is still a marquee out front. Does anyone know what the condition the theatre is in?
Check out the jpg photo right above your comment to see the old front. Any pictures of the inside were so blurry because they were duplicated from pictures printed in the newspaper from back then. I was able to find one picture of the snack bar from probably the forties in the Acadamy archives. The archives also had the pictures reprinted from the inside newspaper photos, and a copy of the original opening program. Pretty cool! I am in contact with the owner and the plans to restore are still on hold pending sesmic retrofit.
Hi, I know that that this theatre is owned by a limited liability corporation called Jacob’s Ladder and their office is located at Lake and Cordova. I am going to contact them to find out what are the plans for this theatre and attempt to get inside to see how bad it might be. I need pictures of the interior if anyone out there has them. I know that the Pasadena Heritage Museaum has pictures of the theatre being built. Any additional info would greatly be appreciated!
Thanks!
LYNNIE
Lynnie
commented about
Vidiotson
Jun 8, 2005 at 1:53 pm
The grilled openings that were mentioned as part of the orginal designs are still there, but there are no landscapes left from what I could see, I walked back behind and looked up, and the azure ceiling might be hidden under the popcorn..other than that, the place is gutted, you would have to have pictures of the interior to even restore it, the theatre was never designed to be a show piece, just a neighborhood theatre. Even the details on the outside of the building that made it look Spanish in the old pictures are gone!! You would have to rip out the box office and the modern doors to restore the original plan. Too bad…who knows where even the original fixtures went or the old box office, or old marquee…if anyone wants to look at the theatre, you can call the agent, it might even be sold by now, or go around 2pm on a Sunday, or go when the church is hoppin' on a Friday night.
Lynn
THSA Member
Lynnie
commented about
Vidiotson
Jun 7, 2005 at 7:45 pm
I neglected to mention that in the projection room there was a toilet and a sink, but the fire doors to the room are long removed, so when you go up the stairs the room is visable right there in the open! Once again, there is no equipment in the projection room and see my previous note from April 6th of this year about any architecture features left in the theatre. There are along the walls in the auditorium colums that are painted white that I didn’t notice before. The front about 10 rows of seats have been removed for the stage built for the church services. The movie curtain and screen are gone. This venue is very bare and I have been unable to find any pictures of what the original insides ever looked like.
Does anyone know?
LYNN
THSA Member
ps Hi Ken Roe! See you soon!
Lynnie
commented about
Vidiotson
Jun 6, 2005 at 7:19 pm
Well, lucky me I was able to contact the selling agents assistant and I got to go up to the mezzanine. The cry room window is still there, the projection room has no equipment left and being used for an office. The mens room is reached by another stair case, couldn’t tell if the mens room was ever reachable from the staircase to the projection room and cry room, the hall way is blocked off at the end, anyone else out there know? I did look in the mens room and there was no door that would lead to the hallway, may have beem remodeled and blocked off. The church has the theatre leased till the end of 2007 I think.
J.H. Woodworth and Son at 200 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena was the firm that Kenneth A. Gordon worked for. As far as I know he was the principle at the office. The home town paper, Eagle Rock Sentinel, dated Friday 4/26/29, has an article about the firm building the Yosmite/Eagle theatre in Eagle Rock. Both gentlemens names are quoted in the article. Copy of the article is located at in the archives of the Eagle Rock Historical Society. Please update your files on the three theatres that were built by Mr. Gordon to reflect that the firm is now know. The Pasadena Museaum of History has not information on this theatre, I have checked. As far as restoration, the theatre has been for sale for a couple of years now and no work has been done on it. If you go by and look in the windows, you can see old movie posters on the side walls.
Lynnie
commented about
Vidiotson
Apr 6, 2005 at 2:19 pm
The “Firm” was JH Woodworth and Son, and Kenneth A. Gordon was the manager of the architecture and construction departments according to an article from the Eagle Sentinial newspaper Friday, April 26th, 1929. The theatre as of today is for sale again. The agent is Scott Howard at 323.871.8585, listed for about 1.5 mil. The church has occupied the space for about 2 years. One of the church members let me in last fall to look around briefly, the place has no architectural features left except the proscenium arch, everthing is painted white, no original fixtures, popcorn ceiling with fluorecent light fixtures, wasn’t allowed up to the mezzanine where the projection room, lounge, cry room and manager’s office were supposed to be. Maybe someone else out there can get in? I have put in a call to the agent to ask questions about it for THSA.
This theater is still there as of January 2015 and still looks the same. Not sure what will ever happen to it since the area is still run down with vacant stores.
I saw “Sound of Music” and “Saturday Night Fever” here!
Where can we mail donations????
As of 3/25/2013 the building is unoccupied. We did a drive by.
I called the real estate office that had the theatre for lease and a few THSA members including myself were allowed inside to tour. The Auditorium is intact except the seats are gone. The Egytian designs still are there and the old fire curtain had painted advertisements for businessess in Pasadena during the 20’s. This is a cool little theatre. Yes the front lobby and snack bar were converted to retail space sometime ago….using it as a theatre again would be near impossible according to the city codes, need certain number of parking spaces now…the projection room has nothing left in it, the bathrooms were remodeled but in disrepair. God knows where the original sign “UPTOWN” went….I went to the movies there in the early ninties or late eighties when it was playing revival films. The for lease sign was taken down over six months ago and there has been nothing done to the theatre still.
This theatre is located at 5253 W. Adams Blvd. just west of La Brea. I drove by it last week and it is very closed. There is still a marquee out front. Does anyone know what the condition the theatre is in?
LYNNIE
Check out the jpg photo right above your comment to see the old front. Any pictures of the inside were so blurry because they were duplicated from pictures printed in the newspaper from back then. I was able to find one picture of the snack bar from probably the forties in the Acadamy archives. The archives also had the pictures reprinted from the inside newspaper photos, and a copy of the original opening program. Pretty cool! I am in contact with the owner and the plans to restore are still on hold pending sesmic retrofit.
LYNNIE
Hello Friends, would be very interested to see the pictures and get copies for the new owner. Please advise, I am in Pasadena.
LYNNIE
Hi, I know that that this theatre is owned by a limited liability corporation called Jacob’s Ladder and their office is located at Lake and Cordova. I am going to contact them to find out what are the plans for this theatre and attempt to get inside to see how bad it might be. I need pictures of the interior if anyone out there has them. I know that the Pasadena Heritage Museaum has pictures of the theatre being built. Any additional info would greatly be appreciated!
Thanks!
LYNNIE
The grilled openings that were mentioned as part of the orginal designs are still there, but there are no landscapes left from what I could see, I walked back behind and looked up, and the azure ceiling might be hidden under the popcorn..other than that, the place is gutted, you would have to have pictures of the interior to even restore it, the theatre was never designed to be a show piece, just a neighborhood theatre. Even the details on the outside of the building that made it look Spanish in the old pictures are gone!! You would have to rip out the box office and the modern doors to restore the original plan. Too bad…who knows where even the original fixtures went or the old box office, or old marquee…if anyone wants to look at the theatre, you can call the agent, it might even be sold by now, or go around 2pm on a Sunday, or go when the church is hoppin' on a Friday night.
Lynn
THSA Member
I neglected to mention that in the projection room there was a toilet and a sink, but the fire doors to the room are long removed, so when you go up the stairs the room is visable right there in the open! Once again, there is no equipment in the projection room and see my previous note from April 6th of this year about any architecture features left in the theatre. There are along the walls in the auditorium colums that are painted white that I didn’t notice before. The front about 10 rows of seats have been removed for the stage built for the church services. The movie curtain and screen are gone. This venue is very bare and I have been unable to find any pictures of what the original insides ever looked like.
Does anyone know?
LYNN
THSA Member
ps Hi Ken Roe! See you soon!
Well, lucky me I was able to contact the selling agents assistant and I got to go up to the mezzanine. The cry room window is still there, the projection room has no equipment left and being used for an office. The mens room is reached by another stair case, couldn’t tell if the mens room was ever reachable from the staircase to the projection room and cry room, the hall way is blocked off at the end, anyone else out there know? I did look in the mens room and there was no door that would lead to the hallway, may have beem remodeled and blocked off. The church has the theatre leased till the end of 2007 I think.
LYNNIE
THSA Member
J.H. Woodworth and Son at 200 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena was the firm that Kenneth A. Gordon worked for. As far as I know he was the principle at the office. The home town paper, Eagle Rock Sentinel, dated Friday 4/26/29, has an article about the firm building the Yosmite/Eagle theatre in Eagle Rock. Both gentlemens names are quoted in the article. Copy of the article is located at in the archives of the Eagle Rock Historical Society. Please update your files on the three theatres that were built by Mr. Gordon to reflect that the firm is now know. The Pasadena Museaum of History has not information on this theatre, I have checked. As far as restoration, the theatre has been for sale for a couple of years now and no work has been done on it. If you go by and look in the windows, you can see old movie posters on the side walls.
The “Firm” was JH Woodworth and Son, and Kenneth A. Gordon was the manager of the architecture and construction departments according to an article from the Eagle Sentinial newspaper Friday, April 26th, 1929. The theatre as of today is for sale again. The agent is Scott Howard at 323.871.8585, listed for about 1.5 mil. The church has occupied the space for about 2 years. One of the church members let me in last fall to look around briefly, the place has no architectural features left except the proscenium arch, everthing is painted white, no original fixtures, popcorn ceiling with fluorecent light fixtures, wasn’t allowed up to the mezzanine where the projection room, lounge, cry room and manager’s office were supposed to be. Maybe someone else out there can get in? I have put in a call to the agent to ask questions about it for THSA.
Lynnie
THSA member