Gage Drive-In
6801 E. Gage Avenue,
Commerce,
CA
90040
6801 E. Gage Avenue,
Commerce,
CA
90040
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Pacific Theatres
Architects: William Glenn Balch, Louis L. Bryan
Firms: Balch & Bryan
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Nearby Theaters
Located in the City of Commerce near Bell Gardens in southwest Los Angeles. The Gage Drive-In opened on April 12, 1949 with Glenn Ford in “Return of October”. It was closed in September 1977 and was soon demolished. It had a capacity for 900 cars.
Contributed by
Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
Here is the mural mentioned above:
http://tinyurl.com/n4gv8v
Boxoffice of July 31, 1948, said that C.H. and William Glenn Balch were preparing plans for a drive-in at Bell Gardens for Pacific Drive-Ins.
As the firm of Balch & Balch had been dissolved a few years earlier, and William Glenn Balch had formed a partnership with Louis L. Bryan in 1946, I’m not sure if the inclusion of Clifford Balch in the notice was not just an error by somebody at Boxoffice who didn’t know about the elder Balch’s retirement.
In any case, William Balch had already designed other drive-ins and was almost certainly the lead architect on the Bell Gardens project. Balch & Bryan had several drive-in projects underway in 1948.
Here is a 1972 aerial photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yche3lm
Now a housing development tract, the outline of which is fairly close to the boundaries of the old drive-in.
The city should possibly be changed to Commerce, CA. I found an archive from the City of Commerce library/UCLA digital archives showing its demolition. Google Maps lists the address as Commerce as well. http://ow.ly/pylZj
Opened on 12/4/1949 with “Return of October”. Closed in 1977. Demolished a few weeks after closure. Site now an industrial park. Mural with a Spanish horseman on back of screen.
The Los Angeles Times, in articles and advertisements, placed the Gage in the City of Commerce in 1977, and technically the city briefly owned its land. In August that year its former owners agreed to sell to the city. The Gage was still showing movies in September, then its land was sold by the city in October, and its screen was pulled down by the first week of November.
Google Maps also places 6801 Gage Avenue in Commerce CA.
Tiny LA Times grand opening ad posted.
Boxoffice, Oct. 22, 1973: “A fire at the Gage Drive-In in Bell Gardens caused an estimated $30,000 damage recently. Officers investigating the blaze at the ozoner, located at 6805 East Gage Ave., tentatively cited arson as the cause. They reported finding “considerable evidence of flammable liquid being purposely spilled and ignited” at the site of the fire. Showings at the Gage were continued as usual, despite the heavy damage.”
Now Titan Foods @ 6801 E Gage Ave, Commerce, CA 90040.
Please update.