Visions for theaters

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The Nate Holden Theater just north of us and the Vision Theater in the Leimert Park Village "serve as powerful symbols for what is possible in black neighborhoods, creatively and economically. Whether they will live up to this potential is an age-old question that many hope will be answered in the affirmative," Erin Aubrey Kaplan wrote in the Sept. 26, '07(also the date of this original post), LA Times (now behind a stupid pay wall - how can they do that when the NY Times gives it away for free?).

UPDATE


Though she praises the atmosphere of Leimert Park, "where jazz and
blues venues, coffeehouses, galleries and African-themed shops have made it a local mecca of black culture for two decades," she also sees the reality: "Leimert has languished, part of the larger economic struggle of the surrounding Crenshaw District."


Money is often the biggest obstacle - $7 million was spent on an often empty Holden theater and $11 million is needed to remodel the Vision. Then you have to fund the programs. NOTED: In August, Assemblywoman
Karen Bass announced she helped secure more than $2.4 million in funding for the Vision Theater.

Kaplan also gives some deserved credit to Save Leimert: After initially opposing the councilman's fast-track plan, Save Leimert Park worked to strike a balance between what it and the city wants for the neighborhood.

Yet, Save Leimert still opposes the revitalization plan and when Kaplan asks why here's the response: While there's no disagreement about restoring the Vision, the plan "is just not there," says Lark Galloway-Gilliam, a resident and member of Save Leimert Park.


I would hope that when you are given a soap box as big as the LA Times and a reporter who knows the nuances of the issues as well as Kaplan, you'd take the opportunity to let everyone know what's the sticking point, or the problems, or where there's room for compromise. Instead, it makes it sound once again like a stall.


HISTORY:
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According to Cinema Treasures, the Vision was built by Howard Hughes. It is a large neighborhood movie palace originally called The Leimert. The "1931 Spanish-tinged Deco wonder" was renamed the
Watchtower in the 1980's, when the Leimert was converted into a Jehovah's Witness chapel.

Kaplan writes that actress Marla Gibbs bought it in 1990 and rechristened it the Vision Theater. "The name reflected Gibbs' ambition of instituting quality black theater in the 'hood." The bank foreclosed on the property in 1997, and again, the city stepped in.



Gibbs told Kaplan that there the lack of community contributions was the chief reason for failure but also said she received no help from the city. "The biggest problem seemed to be that I owned the building," Gibbs says. "The Vision was for the community and the children, but people always saw it as Marla's. It was a battle. By the time I paid bills every month, I couldn't do the things I wanted."

Kaplan writes: The Holden started life as the Ebony Showcase in 1950, a live theater on Washington Boulevard in an improbable neighborhood between
the 10 Freeway and Hollywood marked by historic architecture and, starting in the 1980s, a lively drug trade. The Showcase, which was founded by Nick Stewart, an actor best known for his role as Lightnin' in the "Amos 'n' Andy" television series, gave the area an air of cultural promise. Galled by the lack of dignified movie roles for blacks, Stewart started the Showcase to provide alternatives for black performers. The theater became an institution. But it fell on hard times and disrepair in the '80s and '90s, and finally was foreclosed on in 1996.



The city took over and spent $7 million over the next eight years replacing the Showcase with the sleekly modern Holden, which opened in 2004. Since then, however, the theater has hosted one Equity production and a few black-themed shows and events but has served primarily as a rental facility.

PHOTOS culled from the LA Library and the California State Library.