Kirk Douglas Theatre
Culver City, Calif.
Steven Ehrlich Architects

Movie palace reborn as a highly accessible theater

© Elon Schoenholz

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Opened in 1947, the Culver Movie Palace was for many years an icon of the vitality and diversity of the film-making community in Culver City, Calif. By the 1980s, though, the movie palace sat derelict: its Streamline Moderne tower only a reminder of the city’s once lively nightlife. A collaboration between the Los Angeles-based Center Theatre Group, Steven Ehrlich Architects, and the Culver City Redevelopment Agency, set out in 2001 to transform the former movie palace into the Kirk Douglas Theatre, an intimate, flexible venue for both traditional and experimental theater.

Exterior restoration work included repairing the neon marquee and sign tower. In an effort to separate old and new, as well as rethink the theater experience, the architect created openings in the building envelope and located public circulation along the building's perimeter. Inside the entrance lobby, the original terrazzo floor—with an intricate flower motif—was rehabilitated and the ticket booths and poster display cases refurbished. A spacious lobby with crisp but informal cloth-covered seating provides a gathering area for patrons and is easily accessible to a custom-designed bar and food concession.

The architects inserted a new 300-seat venue into the existing auditorium. The stage is an "end-stage" configuration and leaves the performance area open, allowing each group of performers the flexibility to decide their preferences on set design and the sequencing of action. Cantilevered galleries above the main seating area create intimacy and heighten the audience's sense of participation in performances. Seating rows rise gradually from the stage with flanking balconies, guaranteeing the audience unimpeded views of the stage. With access to seating directly from ground level, the theater boasts up to 30 ADA-accessible seats; compared to the usual four seats, this is one of the highest counts in the nation for a venue of its size. Removing access barriers is just one of the many ways the restored Kirk Douglas Theatre promotes the arts and theater experience in the larger community.

Formal name of Project:
Kirk Douglas Theatre

Location:
Culver City, Calif.

Gross square footage:
18,500 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$7.8 million

Owner:
Center Theatre Group and the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Culver City

Architect:
Steven Ehrlich Architects
10865 Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
310.838.9700 p
310.838.9737 f
www.s-ehrlich.com