As of late 2022 a gourmet brownie store called ganache–d has opened in the theatre’s lobby. It’s unclear what use it being made, if any, of the theatre spaces.
It was discovered in August 2021 that the theatre’s new owner, Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, gutted much of the interior allegedly without permits/permission. According to local newspaper The Fresno Bee “The entire second level was removed — some 1,000 theater seats — to make space for living quarters, along with plaster from the walls and much of the original ornamental work. All that is left is the original stage. The city cited the building’s owner, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, for several code violations, including construction without a permit. The city is meeting this week [early August 2021] to determine next steps, which could involve a work stoppage and additional fines.”
City councilmember Miguel Arias noticed construction work taking place at the building and did not recall any plans or permits. “People were taken back by the significant demolition that has been done. essentially the whole interior has been demolished except for crown molding that’s left,” Arias said.
The 12th November 1949 edition of Boxoffice has an update on the theatre’s reopening at the time: “The Plaza Theatre has been reopened after major alterations. Included in the redecoration was the installation of a Cycloramic screen and new Voice of the Theatre speaker. The Village Theatre has been closed for similar remodeling”. Link here.
I’ll go with the Avalon being one of the first theatres designed for talkies (which is what the Catalina Island Co. claim on their website), but it’s absolutely not “the first in the world” as quoted, without source, in the L.A. Times article.
One doesn’t need to look too far in order to find other theatres which opened before the Avalon and were built for the talkies. For instance the Observatory Park Theatre in San Diego was promoted by Fox West Coast as “the first San Diego playhouse to be specifically designed and constructed, from the ground up, for the exhibiting of sound, synchronized, and talking pictures” (San Diego Union, 17th January 1929 – same day the theatre opened to the public).
I spent a day photographing the Aztec in March 2019 courtesy of Live Nation. You can see all the photos, plus the historic documents and theatre history I pulled together, at historictheatrephotos.com/aztec.
Blink Fitness' local manager, first name Edgar, is generally welcoming of people interested to have a look around the interior of the building, including taking photos.
A photo of this theatre is featured in the 15 May 1926 edition of “Exhibitors Herald”, held by the Museum of Modern Art Library in New York and scanned online by the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald25unse
As of late 2022 a gourmet brownie store called ganache–d has opened in the theatre’s lobby. It’s unclear what use it being made, if any, of the theatre spaces.
From the 21st January 1928 edition of “Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World”.
It was discovered in August 2021 that the theatre’s new owner, Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, gutted much of the interior allegedly without permits/permission. According to local newspaper The Fresno Bee “The entire second level was removed — some 1,000 theater seats — to make space for living quarters, along with plaster from the walls and much of the original ornamental work. All that is left is the original stage. The city cited the building’s owner, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, for several code violations, including construction without a permit. The city is meeting this week [early August 2021] to determine next steps, which could involve a work stoppage and additional fines.”
City councilmember Miguel Arias noticed construction work taking place at the building and did not recall any plans or permits. “People were taken back by the significant demolition that has been done. essentially the whole interior has been demolished except for crown molding that’s left,” Arias said.
Whereas the Fresno Bee is behind a paywall, you can read more here on yourcentralvalley.com.
There is a 3-minute video tour of the theatre, filmed in 2011, here on YouTube.
The addresses didn’t work for me. I eventually found the location at 23°00'00.7"N 82°23'15.8"W (23.000203, -82.387723).
The 12th November 1949 edition of Boxoffice has an update on the theatre’s reopening at the time: “The Plaza Theatre has been reopened after major alterations. Included in the redecoration was the installation of a Cycloramic screen and new Voice of the Theatre speaker. The Village Theatre has been closed for similar remodeling”. Link here.
I’ll go with the Avalon being one of the first theatres designed for talkies (which is what the Catalina Island Co. claim on their website), but it’s absolutely not “the first in the world” as quoted, without source, in the L.A. Times article.
One doesn’t need to look too far in order to find other theatres which opened before the Avalon and were built for the talkies. For instance the Observatory Park Theatre in San Diego was promoted by Fox West Coast as “the first San Diego playhouse to be specifically designed and constructed, from the ground up, for the exhibiting of sound, synchronized, and talking pictures” (San Diego Union, 17th January 1929 – same day the theatre opened to the public).
Huge amount of history and photos (over 100) of the Spreckels on my Historic Theatre Photos website.
I spent a day photographing the Aztec in March 2019 courtesy of Live Nation. You can see all the photos, plus the historic documents and theatre history I pulled together, at historictheatrephotos.com/aztec.
Blink Fitness' local manager, first name Edgar, is generally welcoming of people interested to have a look around the interior of the building, including taking photos.
A photo of this theatre is featured in the 15 May 1926 edition of “Exhibitors Herald”, held by the Museum of Modern Art Library in New York and scanned online by the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald25unse
There is a one-page article on this theatre in the 4th March 1922 edition of “Motion Picture News” available online at https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturenew25marc#page/1408/.