Detailed Information

The West Coast North Park at its opening in January 1929

Building of the theatre was first announced in the Exhibitors Daily Review of August 1928. The 1,200-seat theatre, built by University Park local Emil Klicks, opened 17th January 1929, hailed as the first theatre in San Diego designed for the talkies.

At its opening, a dedication on the theatre organ was given by organist Jamie Erickson, a footlight presentation on the stage by Ted Mack and the New California Music Masters, Fanchon & Marco acts temporarily transferred from San Diego’s California Theatre for the premiere, followed by a feature presentation and San Diego premiere of the movie Win That Girl (1928) .

Organ Grille Closeup

The theatre was designed in an understated Spanish Renaissance style, with reports of the time noting that the theatre did not carry any ornate “ginger-bread” decorations. The decorations of note in the auditorium of 1929 are the same as they are today: the ornate curved organ grilles, massive wall sconces, highly-decorated ventilator grilles in the ceiling, and the elegant electric chandeliers.

The theatre stopped showing movies and closed in 1989. The City of San Diego bought the theatre in 1990 and transferred ownership to its Redevelopment Agency to complete a $900,000 seismic retrofit. The space was used sporadically for various discount and religious enterprises.

In the early 2000s a combination of North Park community members, the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Diego, and the Lyric Opera of San Diego, raised millions of dollars to renovate the theatre. The $12 million project saw the stage extended forward into the auditorium, and although a balcony was added, overall seating capacity was reduced to 800. The theatre lobby was converted into a restaurant. The City was convinced to build a multi-level parking lot across the street.

The theatre in 2019

In 2005 the theatre reopened as the Birch North Park Theatre on 14th October as a venue for the Lyric Opera of San Diego. In October 2010 the Lyric Opera installed a replica vertical sign on the building’s façade, funded through a loan from the Redevelopment Agency.

By 2011 the Lyric Opera was unable to meet its financial obligations. It unsuccessfully tried to sell the theatre in 2011 before filing for bankruptcy in 2013. The Verant Group’s West Coast Tavern, which was the Lyric Opera’s tenant in the lobby area restaurant, fought in bankruptcy court for control of the building, which it eventually won.

North Park Mini Park (rendering, courtesy City of San Diego)

The Verant Group kept the theatre going as a live entertainment venue, and then in early 2015 it was announced that SD Observatory LLC would purchase the theatre. The group now own and manage the theatre, marketed as The Observatory North Park, and the restaurant space (West Coast Tavern), built in what was originally the theatre lobby. The Observatory North Park continues to be a popular and vibrant live entertainment and music venue.

In February 2020 work broke ground on the North Park Mini Park, a half-acre park / urban plaza which was approved for the parking lot behind the theatre in 2012. The mini park has been described by its designers as a future “town square” for North Park, a place for the community to gather for special events and an important pedestrian connector between the business corridor of University Avenue and residential neighborhoods. Amenities will include an open stage for live entertainment and a giant movie screen on the southern wall of the historic theatre. It is hoped the mini park will open before the end of 2020.

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Historic Photos & Documents

Announcement of the theatre’s construction as printed in the 18th August 1928 edition of Exhibitors Daily Review (270KB PDF)

Report of the North Park Theatre as being the first theatre in the United States to be built specifically for talkies, as printed in the 8th December 1928 edition of Motion Picture News (165KB PDF)

Opening ad for the new theatre, as printed in the 17th January 1929 edition of the San Diego Union (3.8MB PDF)

Review of the theatre’s opening as printed in the 18th January 1929 edition of the San Diego Tribune (240KB PDF)

Review of the new theatre as printed in the 6th April 1929 edition of Motion Picture News (630KB PDF)

News of the theatre being sold to SD Observatory LLC, as published in the 6th January 2016 edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune (340KB PDF)

19290117 Evening Tribune North Park

Installation of a copy of the theatre’s original vertical sign, as published in the 11th October 2019 edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune (1.4MB PDF)

Rendering of the North Park Mini Park, which will replace the parking lot to the rear of the theatre by the end of 2020 – courtesy City of San Diego (JPG)

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Photos of Observatory North Park

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Auditorium: Main Floor

The main floor level was originally fully seated, and the only level in the theatre, but is now standing room only. A bar and other audience facilities are located at the rear, below the non-original Balcony.

Close inspection of the floor reveals numerous small holes. These are the “mushroom” ventilators, now sealed-up, which would have originally emitted fresh air into the auditorium. The large ventilator panels in the ceiling originally expelled the foul air outside.

House Left

Center under Balcony

House Right under Balcony

Auditorium from Fan Barricade House Left

Auditorium from Stage front

Bar at rear of main level

Auditorium: Balcony

The Balcony level is not original and was added as part of the 2004/5 redevelopment for the now defunct Lyric Opera of San Diego.

As of late 2019 the Balcony area was not being used; either the front standing area or the rear area with tables and bench seating. It may be pressed into use in the future.

Auditorium from Balcony Left

Balcony Center

Followspot on Balcony

Balcony Rear Left

Proscenium Closeup from Balcony

Balcony Right

Auditorium: Closeups

The theatre features large ventilators in the ceiling which would have originally expelled foul air upward and out of the theatre.

“Simplicity in Decoration” was the phrase used to describe theatre upon its opening. Years of theatres decorated with mythical figures, and what was then considered overly elaborate decoration, had taken their toll on society, and before Art Deco got a grasp on design the understated Classical theme, with a hint of Spanish, was the order of the day in North Park. That did not stop the North Park Theatre getting some of the riotous wall sconce lights we have ever seen!

Balcony Chandelier

Ceiling Ventilator Closeup

Chandelier from below

Exit Door Architrave

Organ Chamber House Left, with False Door

Organ Chamber House Right Closeup

Wall Sconce

Wall Sconce Closeup

Wall Sconce and Exit Door

Exterior

The building fronts onto University Avenue. The old lobby areas of the theatre have been turned into a bar (the West Coast Tavern ) which is run by the same team as the main venue.

There is a small Box Office on the side of the main building, on 29th St. The main entrance for events at the theatre is just south of the Box Office, through one of the original fire exits from the rear of the theatre.

There is a large surface parking lot immediately south of the theatre, and a multi-story parking structure located immediately southeast.

North Park Theatre building from above

Main Entrance on University Ave

Main Entrance from Across Street

Marquee and Vertical Sign

Stagehouse Left Exterior

Stagehouse Rear

Stagehouse Sign (faces south over surface parking lot)

Stagehouse Sign Coseup

Stage Access Door (southeast corner of building)

Stage

The stagehouse was refitted in the early 2000s for the residency by the now defunct Lyric Opera of San Diego.

A false proscenium was added downstage of the original proscenium and the stage extended outward over the orchestra pit, which is now sealed-up and inaccessible. This affords a much deeper stage than the North Park Theatre was originally built with.

Upstage Right

Auditorium from Upstage Center

Upstage Left

Stage Left from Upstage

Stage from Stage Left Wing

Stage Left from Downstage

Grid from Downstage Left

Stage Left Proscenium, note the original 1929 proscenium at left, and the false proscenium added in 2004/5 immediately downstage

Stage Access Door

Basement and Dressing Rooms

Cast and Crew rooms are located beneath the stage and include kitchen facilities.

Counterweight Wall

The theatre’s modern counterweight flying system was supplied by JR Clancy , fitted at the same time as the present fire curtain, installed by iWeiss , in 2004/5 when the theatre underwent major renovation to become host to the now defunct Lyric Opera of San Diego.

It is fantastic that in replacing the original Armstrong counterweight flying system, the original index rail from 1929 was left intact. What makes the index rail especially important is that the empty spaces on the index rail for the downstage linesets have been filled-in, rather than left blank which happened at most theatres. The titles Valance, Grand Drapery, Picture Sheet, and Vitaphone Sheet are terms which have been almost lost to history. See the closeup photo below for details.

Counterweight Wall and Index Rail

Counterweight Wall Panorama

Index Rail Closeup

Fly Floor

The Fly Floor is located Stage Left and has a Pin Rail. There is no Loading Bridge and the chains beside the Counterweight Wall, plus weights stored on the Fly Floor, suggest that arbor/cradle loading is performed at this level.

Fly Floor, looking Onstage

Fly Floor from Upstage

Fly Floor from Downstage

Organ Chambers

The theatre originally housed an organ however it has long since been removed. The organ chamber at Stage Right is now used as a production office space.