"an art deco masterpiece"

Since 1996, the Warner Grand Theater has been owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles' Department of Cultural Affairs. Grand Vision Foundation is the "Friends" group that engages the community to support the theater at every level. The Theatre is a rental house and events are produced by individual producers.

Considered "an art deco masterpiece on a neighborhood scale," the Warner Grand was part of the era of the Picture Palace, the magical decades of the 1920s and 1930s. As the popularity of the motion picture grew, the glamorous picture palace was conceived as a place of escape, a place where dreams came true. The Warner Brothers believed in this dream and built three lavish art deco picture palaces in Beverly Hills, Huntington Park and San Pedro. The Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, the first sound-equipped theatre in the South Bay, opened to the public on January 20, 1931, with a star-studded gala premier. Jack Warner christened it "The Castle of Your Dreams," created by its chief architect B. Marcus Priteca and designer A.T. Heinsbergen. Pritica later designed Hollywood's famous Pantages Theater and many others.

http://www.grandvision.org/warner-grand.asp