Comments from kencmcintyre

I didn’t walk around the building last year, but if you look at the view on Google it’s a good sized building. Next time I’m down that way I will go inside and see what they did with the interior.

Here are 1983 and 1973 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/dxotpu
http://tinyurl.com/cbf25c

Here is the pre-Disney Paramount in the early 1980s:
http://tinyurl.com/ctvdlf
http://tinyurl.com/cfycb6
http://tinyurl.com/dfmvv9

Here is a 1954 view of the Iris:
http://tinyurl.com/d3wfz8

Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cogzd6

Here are photos from 1980 and 1983:
http://tinyurl.com/chwoco
http://tinyurl.com/dhmdrt

Here is a 1982 photo. For the people that were discussing Jack Wrangler, his obituary was in the paper the other day.
http://tinyurl.com/c984tr

Premiere night in 1922, from the LAPL:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics28/00063857.jpg

The theater can be seen in this 1950 photo from the LAPL:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics47/00043387.jpg

Some touchup work in 1965. Already showing adult films:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015389.jpg

Here is a 1983 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/czzo3e

Here is a B&W photo by Joe Fizer:
http://tinyurl.com/ca3xww

The Vega building that fronted the theater was demolished in 1992, following the 1987 Whittier earthquake, according to this LA Times excerpt from May 1993:

The county Regional Planning Commission recently approved plans for renovating the old Golden Gate Theater, clearing the way for contractors to draw up architectural plans for a restaurant and offices on the lot. El Gallo Giro will build a restaurant at Whittier and Atlantic boulevards, where the old Vega Building once stood. The building will have a tower resembling the one that highlighted the Vega Building, as well as skylights.

Work is expected to begin in late May or early June, said Michael Rose, project manager and director of construction for El Gallo Giro Corp., which has a 45-year lease on the site. He expects renovations and construction on the $2-million project to be complete by Christmas. “We hired an architect who was involved in the City Hall (renovation) to preserve the historical integrity of the project, which are the facade and a number of interior aspects,” Rose said. “We sat down with community leaders because we were interested in community input, especially with this site.”

The Vega Building served as an arcade to the theater until the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake rendered it uninhabitable. The building was demolished in December to make way for construction. The vaulted floor of the theater, which has an ornate gold-leaf interior and was built in 1927, will be leveled to allow for community use such as meetings, weddings and quinceaneras celebrations, Rose said.

The company will also restore the courtyard between the two buildings and convert the theater lobby into offices, which will become El Gallo Giro’s corporate headquarters, Rose said. Carrie Sutkin, planning deputy for Supervisor Gloria Molina, said residents were especially concerned about improving the appearance of that lot, which was boarded up since the earthquake.

“Everyone wanted to save the theater and they wanted to restore Whittier Boulevard because it’s been so blighted,” Sutkin said.