West Lake Theatre
Los Angeles / 1953
(enhanced lettering)
(Actual card measures 5 1/2"x 3 3/8")
(enhanced lettering)
(Actual card measures 5 1/2"x 3 3/8")
The Westlake Theatre is a historic theater located in the Westlake section of Los Angeles, at 638 S. Alvarado Street, adjacent to MacArthur Park.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Opened in 1926, the theater had seating for 1,949 patrons and was used for both motion pictures and vaudeville shows.
It was built at a reported cost of $750,000 and designed by Richard D. Bates, Jr., with an exterior in a Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival style.
The facade features cast stone Churrigueresque detailing of floral patterns and cartouche relief, the interior contains Adamesque references and
murals by Anthony Heinsbergen. Exterior renovations in 1935 were designed by the noted theater architect S. Charles Lee and included an Art Deco
ticket kiosk made of red-painted metal, unvarnished aluminum and glass, new lobby doors, and terrazzo sunburst paving in the foyer and front sidewalk.
One of the theater's intact features is an original steel-frame, three-story neon sign that reads "WESTLAKE THEATRE."
The Westlake was operated as a first-run movie theater from 1926 until the 1960s. As the neighborhood's demographics changed, the theater was sold
to Metropolitan Theatres Corp., which showed Spanish-language or Spanish-subtitled movies. In 1991, the building was sold to Mayer Separzadeh, who
converted the theater into a swap meet.
To protect the building from drastic changes, the building was declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in September 1991. The theater was
purchased by the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles in 2008. The Redevelopment Agency announced plans to rehabilitate the theater
as a venue for live theater, film, music and other performances.