Commissioned by Ivan and Eula Hansen, designed by nationally recognized theater architect Carl Boller and built by the Stivers Brothers, the Atlantic Theater opened May 21, 1942. According to an article in the Long Beach Argus describing the opening, the new "theatre has many features not found in any other theatre in Long Beach, such as black lighting, the latest in sound equipment, an auditorium for mothers, and many other conveniences that will be appreciated by theater goers."
Building a theater
In the October 4, 1940 issue, the Long Beach Argus carried a story announcing a new $75,000 theater for North Long Beach. The article noted that "The contractor, Stivers Brothers, has already filed plans for checking. The building will occupy a 160 foot frontage...the parking space will be on the south side of the building and will be 160 x 110 feet. A store building of 40x80 feet will be built in conjunction with the theater."
The number of seats planned for the theater varied in the published stories from 750 to 950.
Lessons learned from the 1933 earthquake were apparently applied to the construction. A notice published in a trade magazine, Southwest Builder and Contractor (Oct. 11, 1940), said the theater was to be of "...reinforced concrete and brick construction."
On April 25, 1941, a year prior to the opening, an artist's rendering of the of the proposed theater appeared in the Press Telegram and was reprinted in the Argus. At some point, the original design was modified from a ball to a flame at the top of the tower.
The article accompaning the drawing indicated that construction had started and the concrete foundations were being poured. Completion was expected in about four months.
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Theater Interior
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The only known photograph of the interior of the Atlantic Theater belongs to longtime NLB resident Betty Keisler. According to Betty, the photo at left was taken at an Easter service held at the Atlantic Theater about 1948. It was the only venue large enough. Betty, seen at the lower left corner of the photo wearing a corsage, was a member of the church choir.
The photo clearly shows that the theater interior was very plain. It is possible to see details of the ceiling, the "seascape" (breaking waves and birds) painted on the walls and the detail of the lower half of the sidewalls. Some of the detail of the back wall can also be seen.
The last time the general public was allowed in the theater was during a tour of the facility as part of a special meeting of the NLB Redevelopment Project Area Committee on October 15, 2005, four days before the Cultural Heritage Commission discussed whether or not to declare the theater to be a local landmark.
During the tour, numerous photos were taken of the interior of the structure. Several are shown below side by side with enlarged sections of the 1948 interior photo.
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The following slideshow contains random photos of the interior of the Atlantic Theater taken in 2005.
