Nearly 100-year-old movie theater in Southern California shuttered
After nearly a century of showing movies, the historic Highland Theater in Highland Park has closed its doors for good, according to multiple reports.
The beloved community theater at 5604 N. Figueroa St., which was known for presenting first-run films at a budget-friendly price, shuttered on Feb. 29, according to reporting from the Los Angeles Times.
“It’s not the community’s fault or our fault,” Dan Akarakian, owner of Highland Theater, told outlet. “It’s just the industry has been so bad that the theater was losing money every single week.”
While the news has been upsetting to many in the neighborhood, the community-driven Instagram account @highlandpark90042 reported that employees at the theater lost their jobs without any prior notice.
Cyrus Etemad, the owner of the building, said on Instagram that he had been working with Akarakian to keep the theater operating in the community, even allowing the business to operate rent free for a year.
“In deciding not to charge any rent at all while trying to carry the expense of the building, I made a concerted effort to support his business to keep the theater’s doors open and his employees employed, while I have been working on the long-term plans for the historic building,” Etemad said on Instagram.
The theater, like many other businesses, went dark during the peak of the pandemic, closing its doors from March 2020 to May 2021.
“When it reopened, it didn’t have the punch that it had before. People had different outlets for entertainment, and this theater and others in the city couldn’t afford operating,” The Times reports Akarakian said.
As for the future of the nearly 100-year-old building, Etemad said it’s in major need of restoration, but that he hopes to keep the location “a gathering place for the next century of Highland Park.”
“The plans are still taking shape and my sincere hope is for it to remain a jewel and landmark of the neighborhood,” he said in an Instagram post.
While one historic theater in Los Angeles closes its doors, another, the Westwood’s Village Theater, was recently purchased by a high-profile group of Hollywood directors.
A mainstay for movie premieres since it opened in 1931, the Village Theater was bought by Jason Reitman, Christopher Nolan, Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg and more than 30 other film directors.
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Reitman said he felt compelled to pull together other filmmakers after the theater went up for sale last year. As a Los Angeles native, he wants to extend the rich history of the Village Theater, which is known for its 170-foot (52-meter) white Spanish tower and a large auditorium that can seat 1,300, the Associated Press reported.
Yet another beloved neighborhood cinema house that was on the verge of shuttering, Los Feliz’s Vista Theater, was purchased by director Quentin Tarantino in 2021.
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