Strand Theatre
12905 Philadelphia Street,
Whittier,
CA
90601
12905 Philadelphia Street,
Whittier,
CA
90601
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The Gale Theatrical Company and Henry Siler opened the Gale Theater in 1916.
The former Gale Theatre turned Strand Theatre was reacquired in 1923 by its original owner Henry J. Siler. Siler had created the Scenic and closed the Gale shortly thereafter in 1921. New operators had reopened the Gale as the Strand. Two new operators failed to get much business to the Strand. But in 1923, Gale and partner Henry Gwin decided to purchase the Strand and move it to this location as the New Strand. It opened on January 21, 1924 with “Alias the Night Wind.”
Margaret Raysor played the pipe organ there. In 1925, the Strand was closed in the summer and open just on weekends beginning that Fall. The Strand appears to have closed after shows on May 21, 1929 not converting to sound. Robbins Pharmacy took on the venue changing the front and leveling the floor for its opening there in May of 1936.
The L.A. County Assessor gives a construction year of 1902 and an effective build year of 1950 for the 10,766 sq. ft. building on this lot. Google’s camera car went up the alley alongside the building, and there is a parking lot behind it, so you can get a good view of the section that once housed the Strand Theatre’s auditorium.
It is currently part of the Marco Polo Pizza parlor, which has its main entrance on Philadelphia Street, but has another door facing the parking lot off of Comstock Avenue. The structure doesn’t look like it would have a ceiling high enough for a movie theater. Perhaps it was lowered as part of the 1950 alterations.
Although the Assessor’s office says the entire building was built in 1902, I suspect that the part with the auditorium might have been a later addition, and the Assessor’s office just lost track of the paperwork for it.