Golden Gate Theater
historic place
The Golden Gate Theater is a historic place in Los Angeles County. It was built in 1927 as a movie palace. The theater was designed in the California Churrigueresque style by architects William and Clifford A. Balch. Its entrance replicated the portal of Spain's University of Salamanca. The theater seated nearly 1,500 people and was located at the intersection of Whittier and Atlantic Boulevards in East Los Angeles. In 1982, the Golden Gate Theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was originally part of the larger Vega Building, which housed retail and apartments. The Vega Building was damaged in the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake and later demolished in 1992. The theater building remained vacant for years, becoming the subject of preservation efforts. In 2012, the Golden Gate Theater was converted into a CVS Pharmacy, preserving its Spanish Churrigueresque architecture. This site matters historically as an example of early 20th-century movie palace architecture and adaptive reuse in East Los Angeles.