AKA: Bard's Colorado Theatre, Pasadena, CA; Academy Theater, Pasadena, CA

Structure Type: built works - performing arts structures - theatres

Designers: Bard, Arthur and Company (firm); Moeller, Carl G., Interior Designer (firm); Smith, L.A., Architect (firm); William D. Coffey (structural engineer); W. C. Liston (building contractor); Carl Gerhardt Moeller (architectural designer); Lewis Arthur Smith (architect)

Dates: constructed 1924-1925

2 stories

1003 East Colorado Boulevard
Pasadena, CA 91106-2310

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Bard’s Egyptian Theatre was situated at East Colorado Boulevard and Catalina Avenue.

Building History

Bard's Egyptian Theatre seated 1,700 when opened. It was originally financed by Louis L. Bard, and was also known as "Bard's Academy Theatre" or the "Academy Theatre." Los Angeles architect L.A. Smith (1869-1958) originally planned a 2,500-seat theater in February 1924, in a commercial building also containing 9 stores and 14 offices. The cost was set at $200,000. By 11/1924, this had changed to 11 stores and 21 offices, with the same budget figure listed. Like a number of Los Angeles theaters designed between 1922-1926, it was Egyptian Revival Style.

Bard's Egyptian Theatre was later owned by the Mann chain.

Alteration

The original Egyptian Revival Style interior was replaced by an updated Streamlined Moderne Style design. Fox West Coast Theatres undertook a $200,000 renovation of the the Academy Theatre in 1957-1958. At this time, new air conditioning equipment and an elevator were installed, and automobile parking was added. Carl G. Moeller was the designer for this renovation, W.C. Liston, the building contractor and William D. Coffey, the structural engineer.

The Academy was divided into a six-screen multi-plex in 06/1984.

PCAD id: 2405