Golden Gate Theater is a Spanish Baroque Revival Churrigueresque-style movie palace built in 1927 on Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles, California. In 1982, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The theater closed in 1986; the retail building built around it was damaged in the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake and demolished in 1992. The remaining theater building was left vacant for more than 20 years as preservationists fought with owners and developers over the future of the building. It was finally converted into a drugstore and reopened in 2012.Theater buildingThe theater seated nearly 1,500 people and was located at one of the major intersections on the east side of Los Angeles, at the corner of Whittier and Atlantic Boulevards. The theater was built by Peter Snyder, known as the "Father of the East Side," and designed by architects William and Clifford A. Balch, creators of the El Rey Theater on Wilshire Boulevard and the Pomona Fox Theater in Pomona, California. It was designed in the ornate Churrigueresque style, and the entrance replicated the portal of Spain's University of Salamanca. When plans for the theater were announced in 1927, the Los Angeles Times reported:"This week will mark the beginning of building operations on the theater project on Whittier Boulevard in Golden Gate Square. The theater proper will seat about 1500 persons, it is declared and will contain thirteen stores. There will also be several apartment units. It is planned as a legitimate playhouse, but will be equipped for motion pictures as well."
