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Hollywood Masonic Temple

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hollywood Masonic Temple

U.S. National Register of Historic Places 

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

 

Hollywood Masonic Temple, 2008

Location6840 Hollywood Blvd.,Hollywood, California 

Coordinates 34°6′4.73″N 

118°20′24.5″WCoordinates: 

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34°6′4.73″N 

118°20′24.5″W 

Built 1921

Architect John C. Austin

Architectural style Classical Revival

NRHP Reference # 85000355

Significant dates

Added to NRHP 28 February 1985[2] 

Designated LAHCM 12 June 1984[1] 

Hollywood Masonic Temple, now known as the El Capitan Entertainment Centre, is a building onHollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, that was listed on the National Register of

Historic Places in 1985. The building, built in 1921, was designed by architect John C. Austin, also noted

as the lead architect of the Griffith Observatory. The Masons operated the temple until 1982, when they

sold the building after several years of declining membership. The 34,000-square-foot building[3] was

then converted into a theater and nightclub, and ownership subsequently changed several times, until it

was bought by the Walt Disney Company's Buena Vista Pictures Distribution in 1998 for Buena Vista

Theatres, Inc.[4] 

Buena Vista Theatres uses it as a promotion tool by creating themed environments to go along with

movie premieres. The center is also rented out for industry parties, premieres, record releases and

product roll-outs.

[4]

 Since 2003, the building's theater has been the home of   Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

[5]

 

The building is rumored to have had a secret tunnel to the Grauman's Chinese Theater that would allow

movie stars to evade mobs at movie premieres. If it existed it is possible that the Red Line subway

construction destroyed the tunnel.[4] 

Contents

  1 History 

o  1.1 The Masonic Temple 

o 

1.2 Opera theater and nightclub 

o  1.3 El Capitan Entertainment Centre 

  2 See also 

  3 References 

History

The Masonic Temple

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Hollywood Masonic Temple, 1922

In 1922, the Hollywood Lodge of the Masons relocated from their existing lodge on the current site of

the Dolby Theatre.[4] The construction of the new three-story building was led by lodge master Charles E.

Toberman, who was responsible for the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Roosevelt

Hotel and the Max Factor Building.[4] The original building cost $176,678, with a sum of $56,421 allottedto furniture and fixtures and $36,295 for the purchase of the lot. Toberman and fellow member Charles

Boag formed a Hollywood Masonic Club to partly finance the building offering membership

subscriptions for $100.[6] 

When the new temple opened, it was one of the most substantial structures in Hollywood. It had a

billiard room, pipe organ, ladies parlor, ballroom, and lodge rooms. One writer described the building as

"unsurpassed for beauty, attractiveness and richness of equipment." The architect, John C. Austin, also

worked on the Shrine Auditorium, Griffith Observatory, and Los Angeles City Hall.[4] 

The Los Angeles Times described the building this way in 2002:

"It's an impassive presence that seems to transcend the ebb and flow of Tinseltown glamour — a

somber Neoclassical temple that stands in stark contrast to the evolving parade of movers, shakers,

panhandlers and paparazzi that have passed before it."[4] 

The grand ballroom was opened in February 1923; the opening ball featured a program on “the

evolution of dance” featuring dancer Lucille Means.[7] Many of Hollywood's elite over the years have

been Masons, including Oliver Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks, W.C. Fields, Cecil B. DeMille, 

D.W. Griffith, John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry.[4] 

During the Great Depression, many of the Masons lost their savings, and the Masons were forced to rent

the ground floor to a social club that installed an illegal slot machine.[6][4] After World War II, the Masons

resumed full use of the structure, and in 1948, more than 300 people crowded into the Masonic Templeto attend a memorial service for D. W. Griffith.[8] In 1969, longtime Mason Harold Lloyd was honored in

a ceremony as his name was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, directly in front of the Masonic

Temple.[9] 

Opera theater and nightclub

By the late 1970s, Masonic membership had declined, and the Masons rented out ground-floor space to

a restaurant. In 1980, the lodge moved out of the building to Van Nuys and renamed the Hollywood-

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West Valley Lodge.[4] By 1982, the Masons could not afford upgrades to meet revised fire and seismic

codes. The Masons sold the building to singer Rosita LaBello who converted the structure into the

Hollywood Opera & Theater Company. The building's life with LaBello's opera and theater company was

short-lived with only a few operatic productions.[6] With the opera and theater company's failure, the

building was sold back to the lodge.[4] 

In February 1986, Detroit developer James Hoseyni signed a 20-year lease with an $2.7 million 3-year

option to buy with building owner 6840 Hollywood Associates, an affiliate of Westmark Development.

Westmark Development at that time had Nicholas Olaerts and Thomas Harnsberger as general

partners[6] and who were owners of  El Capitan Theatre by 1992.[10] Donald Bruce Randall, an architect of

the Randall/Baylon Partnership of Los Angeles, and Tehran-born Kamal Kamooneh, the project's creative

architect, with Hoseyni lead the renovation costing $1.5 million to house a 250-seat cabaret, 500-seat

 jazz theater and an 800-person dance club. The Blue and Red Halls were restored then modified for a

disc jockey's podium, special electronic and lighting equipment and bars. The bathrooms were moved to

the basement to create more floor space.[6] In September 1987, the building was renovated and

reopened as the Hollywood Live Entertainment Pavilions with a cover charge for all venues.[6] Hollywood

Live lasted only a short time.[4]

 

For the November 1995 Toy Story  premiere at the next door El Capitan Theater, Disney rented the

building for Totally Toy Story , a multimedia funhouse promotional event for the movie.[11] In Mid-July

1998, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution purchased the building from a bankrupt individual for $3.6

million to continue using it as a promotional venue.[3] 

El Capitan Entertainment Centre

In 2002, after extensive renovation, Disney reopened the building as the El Capitan Entertainment

Centre. Disney restored original fixtures, including backlighted stone filigree, wrought iron torchieres, 

Batchelder tiles and old post boxes once used by Masonic officers.[4] 

On January 26, 2003, Jimmy Kimmel Live! premiered at the entertainment center, its regular location.[5] 

See also