The carefully planned development of the Palos Verdes Peninsula that began to be implemented in the early 1920s did not include any shopping centers.
The Peninsula’s first commercial area in Malaga Cove Plaza had a few small stores that fit the character of the semi-rural community of Palos Verdes Estates, which would become the Hill’s first incorporated city in 1939.
But, by the 1950s, suburban housing developments had blanketed much of the Peninsula, and the need for more localized shopping – like maybe a supermarket and a department store or two – began to be keenly felt by its growing number of residents.
In 1953, the initial plans for the Peninsula’s first modern shopping center, the outdoor Peninsula Center, were drawn up by the architectural firm Victor Gruen & Associates.
The 112 acres of empty land on which Peninsula Center construction began in 1960 was located in Rolling Hills Estates, which had incorporated in 1957. The Center, which eventually would include larger stores such as J.J. Newberry, Buffum’s and a Lucky supermarket, opened in stages during the first half of the decade.
Peninsula Center plans also included another first: the area’s first movie theater. No longer would parents have to schlep their kids down into the flatlands of Torrance and Redondo Beach for a day at the movies.
National General Corp., the movie theater division of the 20th Century Fox film studio, announced plans to build the Fox Theatre Palos Verdes in 1961. Its site between Drybank and Roxcove drives was Silver Spur Rd., just east of the new Peninsula Center. Silver Spur quickly would become the main commercial artery in Rolling Hills Estates.
Normally, National General used its own architects, but, in this case, Palos Verdes Estates architect Carver L. Baker was hired to design the new theater at 735 Silver Spur. Los Angeles-based contracting firm Sheldon L. Pollack Construction won the bid to build the new cinema showplace.
Baker’s design called for a circular building to house the 60-by-30 foot screen. The $450,000 theater contained 874 seats. The concessions stand and a lobby area were situated to the right of the entrance, with an enclosed lounge located along the left interior curve of the theater building.
State-of-the-art projection equipment, including an Ampex four-track sound system, was installed along with a 50-ton air conditioning plant, according to the Palos Verdes Peninsula News. On Aug. 2, 1963, the newspaper began selling tickets to opening night at the new Fox venue for $1.25 each.
The grand opening was held on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 1963, and it was a doozy. Searchlights scanned the night sky, and the stars came out in force to see the premiere of “The Thrill of It All,” a fluffy domestic romantic comedy starring James Garner and Doris Day and directed by Norman Jewison.
Well-known KMPC disc jockey Ira Cook introduced the luminaries in attendance. They included local celebrity resident Rosemary de Camp and a host of other stars.
The biggest of them was Charlton Heston, whose films at the time had earned the most money of any movie star in Hollywood history. During his brief surprise appearance, Heston told the crowd, “Jim Garner and I have a deal: He comes to all my openings and I come to all his.”
The Peninsula News also documented the appearance of several other stars: character actor Chill Wills, Disney child star Tommy Kirk and the pre-”Kojak” Telly Savalas, who had been nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role alongside Burt Lancaster in “Birdman of Alcatraz.”
A host of other lesser-known actors and actresses appeared, including a 22-year-old Tony Bill. The actor-director would later produce 1974 Best Picture winner “The Sting,” and act in “Shampoo” and many other films.
The theater screened first-run films, and also scheduled well-attended weekly free children’s matinees. Nine years after it opened, National General joined a nationwide trend by remodeling the Fox Theatre into the Palos Verdes 1 and 2 twin theaters.
The twin theaters struggled during the 1970s. The complex became part of the Mann Theaters chain before finally closing in 1979. In August 1980, Ray Jacobs won permission from the Rolling Hills Estates City Council to open the Rolling Wheels Roller Rink on the site.
Jacobs completely gutted the theater, installing a 9,000-square-foot rink capable of accommodating 500 skaters. His business fell off with the 1981 opening of the Ice Capades Chalet ice skating rink next door at the new Courtyard Mall. The roller rink eventually closed in the mid-1980s, probably around 1985.
Next up came the Palos Verdes Gymnastics Club, opened by Palos Verdes High gymnastics coach Jim Mitchell. It operated from 1986 until the mid-1990s before closing.
In 1996, the building reopened in its new guise as a place of worship when the Every Nation Church began holding services there. Every Nation moved to Tennessee in 2006, selling the property to Rolling Hills Covenant Church.
Covenant Church later became Calvary Chapel, which currently holds services at the former movie theater, now renamed Calvary Chapel Palos Verdes.
Sources:
Cinema Treasures website.
Daily Breeze archives.
Los Angeles Times archives.
Palos Verdes Peninsula News archives.
