| As mentioned elsewhere in this site, the Pan Pacific Auditorium has a long-standing history not only with the city of Los Angeles but the Streamline Moderne/Art Deco movement of the 30’s & 40’ s. The co-designer of this place, Wilton Beckett, would go on to design other LA landmarks for years to come, including the Cinemrama Theatre in Hollywood and the space age themed ‘Theme Building’ at the Los Angeles International Airport. Much has been documented about the buildings outer design, but not much for what was inside. The following rare photos were taken from the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection. Go to their web site to see more. |
| We start off with the auditorium itself. While the interior may not have been as glamorous as it’s famous shell, the size spoke for itself. It was believed that the main room was 100,000 square feet big. |
| Here’s a shot of the mall just outside of the Pan Pacific. |
| Here’s a rare shot of a café on the second level that over looked the main hall. |
| Here’s another rare shot…from behind the Pan Pacific! What isn’t widely known is that there was a movie theatre and an ice skating rink behind this place. According to a 1984 LA Times article, this section was opened during the same time as the Auditorium and, while the Pan Pacific was closed in 1972, the theatre was closed in 1984. This section was not designed of Mr. Beckett. Also according to this article, the whole Pan Pacific property was purchased by the County of Los Angeles for 10.45 million dollars in 1979. |
| ....and just for the hell of it (and I might get in trouble for this), here a 1984 picture of the Pan Pacific Theatre. This was taken from the American Classic Images web site. Our apologies to them. |
| This piece was a sketch for the renovation plan for the Pan Pacific, circa 1983 with a proposal for a hotel, hi-tech theatre and the American Cinematheque. |