{"nrhp_refnum":"09001200","name":"Westlake Theatre","other_names":["Westlake Theatre Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"634-642 S. Alvarado St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.058144721000076,"lon":-118.27558823199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-01-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1,949-seat movie theatre with attached office and retail space at 634-642 South Alvarado Street, facing MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. It opened in 1926 and was designed by architect Richard M. Bates.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the theatre as a surviving 1920s movie palace in Spanish Colonial Revival style, with Churrigueresque exterior detail and Adamesque interior ornament. It retains an Anthony Heinsbergen auditorium mural and 1935 Art Deco alterations by S. Charles Lee. It also reflects the growth of the Westlake Park area as a fashionable entertainment and commercial district in the 1920s.","narrative":"Facing MacArthur Park about a mile west of downtown Los Angeles, this large concrete theatre opened on September 22, 1926, with 1,949 seats. Architect Richard M. Bates gave it a Spanish Colonial Revival design, with Churrigueresque cast stone ornament across the Alvarado Street front and lighter Classical and Adamesque decoration inside. Offices and shops occupy the two-story front section, the auditorium rises behind it, and a tall stage house stands at the east end. A three-story neon roof sign remains. In 1935 S. Charles Lee updated the entrance with an Art Deco ticket booth, marquee and foyer terrazzo. Inside, the auditorium keeps a mural by Dutch-born muralist Anthony Heinsbergen. The building reflects the 1920s boom around Westlake Park, when apartment hotels, offices and entertainment venues filled the district. After 65 years as a movie theatre it closed in 1991, and the auditorium now serves as a swap meet. The city designated it a local monument in 1991.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Richard M. Bates (architect); West Coast-Langley Theatres (builder); S. Charles Lee (1935 alterations); Anthony Heinsbergen (muralist)","architectural_style":"Colonial - Spanish Colonial (Churrigueresque exterior detail, Adamesque interior)","criteria":[],"status_note":"The theatre closed as a movie house in 1991. The auditorium now houses a swap meet, while the offices and front retail spaces keep their original function. Some arched openings are covered with plywood or panels.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.68457-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/09001200.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09001200/78dbbd0c0e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09001200/78dbbd0c0e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Visitor7","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Westlake_Theatre-1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Visitor7</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Westlake_Theatre-1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859617","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westlake_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7988991"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/westlake-theatre-09001200/"}