{"nrhp_refnum":"96001177","name":"Balboa Theatre","other_names":["El Teatro Balboa","City Historical Site No. 77"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"868 4th Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Diego","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":32.714025142000025,"lon":-117.16134753199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-10-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Performing Arts","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story theatre and office building with a seven-story domed corner pavilion at 868 Fourth Avenue and E Street in downtown San Diego, California, built in 1923-1924 for the Balboa Building Company.","why_significant":"The visible text describes a 1,500-seat 1920s theatre combined with offices, a hotel and ground-floor storefronts. Its interior blends Mediterranean Classicism with Moorish and Spanish Revival styles, and it keeps original features such as coffered ceilings, plaster ornament and two wall fountains. It was also noted for its acoustics and was designated City of San Diego Historic Site #77 in 1972. The significance statement itself is truncated, so the full argument is not visible.","narrative":"Balboa Theatre occupies a corner of Fourth Avenue and E Street in downtown San Diego. Completed in 1924, it combines a 1,500-seat auditorium with six ground-floor storefronts and 34 offices and hotel rooms on the upper floors. A seven-story octagonal corner pavilion topped by a polychrome tiled dome marks the entrance. The structure is a steel-reinforced concrete frame with hollow clay tile infill, stucco walls and clay roof tiles. Outside, the Fourth Avenue side follows a Mission Revival pattern, while the nearly windowless E Street side shows Plateresque touches. Inside, the auditorium mixes Mediterranean Classicism with Moorish and Spanish Revival detail, including a coffered ceiling, plaster fretwork, and two 28-foot wall fountains that doubled as a basic cooling system. The theatre opened in March 1924 with vaudeville acts, later showed Spanish-language films, and housed Navy personnel during World War II. It became City of San Diego Historic Site #77 in 1972 and was later acquired by the city's redevelopment agency. Restoration remains feasible.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Wheeler (performer/architect, named in the interior description); Wurster Construction Co. (construction contractor); Balboa Building Co. (Robert E. Hicks and Godfrey Strobeck)","architectural_style":"Spanish Colonial Revival (Mission Revival and Plateresque elements on the exterior)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Form lists historic theatre and business functions as vacant. Exterior and interior are described as in good condition, with modifications that would not preclude a complete restoration.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.925636-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/96001177.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001177/544793e798-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001177/544793e798-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Bernard Gagnon","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Balboa_Theatre,_San_Diego_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bernard Gagnon</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:Balboa_Theatre,_San_Diego_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860811","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balboa_Theatre_(San_Diego)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4850212"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/balboa-theatre-96001177/"}