McFarland Theatre
180 W. Kern Avenue,
McFarland,
CA
93250
180 W. Kern Avenue,
McFarland,
CA
93250
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I spent summers in the early 90’s helping my dad do renovations for a photographer named Ron Rafelli who worked with Jimi Hendrix, Doors, The Rolling Stones. He used this theater as living space and studio to get out of Hollywood. The theater is now demolished and is now a Rite-Aid.
A theater called the McFarland Theatre opened on September 5, 1941 in McFarland, owned by Frank Panero, and operated by his son August Panero. The streamline moderne theater building that still stands in McFarland would be appropriate to this date:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tspauld/3492006945/
A 1944 Boxoffice item says that Frank Panero operated a theater at McFarland. Late in 1945, another item said that Panero had a new theater under construction at McFarland, to cost $70,000. An August 17, 1946, item mentioned that Panero was operating only one theater at McFarland, so the old one must have been closed.
I’ve found no mention of the opening date for the new theater, nor the name of the architect, but Panero built several new theaters in the post-war period, and so far all those I’ve found attributed to an architect (at Selma, Shafter, and Delano) were designed by Vincent G. Raney. He’s the likely architect for this house, too, but I haven’t found confirmation.