After reading many of the wonderful stories of the Golden Gate
theatre it is trajic to know the following. Many of you including myself a local city planner and resident of ELA the historic theatre will be turned into a walgreens drugstore. It is ubaurd at what is going on in our community. Where is the social reponsiblity in our city officials. I know for a fact that if this was San Marino or
Pasadena the Golden Gate theatre would be redevelpoment for the community to embrace instead multi-million dollar developers are going to remake the golden gate theatre a drug store. This is a slap in the face in the community all for the sake of making money and not to protect the social fabric that makes ELA what it is. I urge you to please call Gloria Molinas office and the LA conservancy to protest this development. The following is a taken from the LA conservancy website.
Ron Garcia
GOLDEN GATE THEATRE
The 1927 Golden Gate Theatre, one of Los Angeles' most significant neighborhood movie palaces, is in escrow for purchase by a private development firm. The new owner, the Charles Company, intends to remove most of the theater’s interior features to accommodate retail use, most likely a Walgreens Drug Store. The 1,454-seat theater, at the prime corner of Whittier and Atlantic Boulevards in unincorporated East Los Angeles, has sat vacant for over a decade and has been repeatedly threatened with demolition. The theater, in the Spanish Churrigueresque style, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The theater was built by developer Peter Snyder, known as the “Father of the East Side” and its architects were William and Clifford Balch, who were also involved in the design of the El Rey Theatre on Wilshire Blvd. and the Fox Theatre in Pomona. The Vega Building, the historic retail building that once wrapped around the theater, suffered damage from the Whittier Earthquake and was demolished in the early 1990s. The Conservancy will be working with the new buyer, as well as County Supervisor Gloria Molina’s office, to seek retention of the theater’s historic interior features, such as the proscenium, lobby, clamshell-shaped concession stand, and mezzanine level, while encouraging a positive reuse of this long-vacant historic property.
It is quiet sad to know that one of the last remaining historical
monuments in East Los Angeles is going to be used for a walgreens.
I think what should happen is like many other cities have done through community economic development is to fully restore buildings that have community value in order for the community to embrace thier community history. Im curious to know what the name of the conservancy is ? Personally I never got to experince the beauty of the theatre but the many stories shared by my family exemplify the personal value that it has on the community. If someone knows the name of the group working to restore the theatre it would be great.
After reading many of the wonderful stories of the Golden Gate
theatre it is trajic to know the following. Many of you including myself a local city planner and resident of ELA the historic theatre will be turned into a walgreens drugstore. It is ubaurd at what is going on in our community. Where is the social reponsiblity in our city officials. I know for a fact that if this was San Marino or
Pasadena the Golden Gate theatre would be redevelpoment for the community to embrace instead multi-million dollar developers are going to remake the golden gate theatre a drug store. This is a slap in the face in the community all for the sake of making money and not to protect the social fabric that makes ELA what it is. I urge you to please call Gloria Molinas office and the LA conservancy to protest this development. The following is a taken from the LA conservancy website.
Ron Garcia
GOLDEN GATE THEATRE
The 1927 Golden Gate Theatre, one of Los Angeles' most significant neighborhood movie palaces, is in escrow for purchase by a private development firm. The new owner, the Charles Company, intends to remove most of the theater’s interior features to accommodate retail use, most likely a Walgreens Drug Store. The 1,454-seat theater, at the prime corner of Whittier and Atlantic Boulevards in unincorporated East Los Angeles, has sat vacant for over a decade and has been repeatedly threatened with demolition. The theater, in the Spanish Churrigueresque style, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The theater was built by developer Peter Snyder, known as the “Father of the East Side” and its architects were William and Clifford Balch, who were also involved in the design of the El Rey Theatre on Wilshire Blvd. and the Fox Theatre in Pomona. The Vega Building, the historic retail building that once wrapped around the theater, suffered damage from the Whittier Earthquake and was demolished in the early 1990s. The Conservancy will be working with the new buyer, as well as County Supervisor Gloria Molina’s office, to seek retention of the theater’s historic interior features, such as the proscenium, lobby, clamshell-shaped concession stand, and mezzanine level, while encouraging a positive reuse of this long-vacant historic property.
It is quiet sad to know that one of the last remaining historical
monuments in East Los Angeles is going to be used for a walgreens.
I think what should happen is like many other cities have done through community economic development is to fully restore buildings that have community value in order for the community to embrace thier community history. Im curious to know what the name of the conservancy is ? Personally I never got to experince the beauty of the theatre but the many stories shared by my family exemplify the personal value that it has on the community. If someone knows the name of the group working to restore the theatre it would be great.