Maggie I believe this tunnel is being restored and could be completed by 2023 has it been completed ??
Hello, When our neighborhood movie theater closed, the whole area was sad. We were sad that now, on Saturday mornings, we no longer stood outside in a long line going all around the theater with tons of other kids from our school and neighboring elementary schools. There were even some junior high school kids in line. Saturdays were kids matinee showings and we all got in relatively free. We had been going to that theater since we moved to our first house in the Westside of Long Beach. The Santa Fe Theater: The corner of Santa Fe Ave. and Hill St. We had a neighborhood movie theater within several walking blocks of both of our Westside of Long Beach houses. The theater was packed on a Saturday morning with kids from almost every section of the area. The Saturday morning cartoons, news films and a feature of cowboy/war movies, including some 3-d movies were the attraction. The grand opening in May, 1946. It was not until we moved from our little trailer until we moved to our small craftsman house on the far reaches of the Westside of Long Beach were we introduced to the theater. From the time in 1948 to the time the movie theater closed in 1957 we were fanatics that stood outside every Saturday for the kid’s matinees. Santa Fe Ave Bowling alley... formerly the Santa Fe Ave movie theater. We were lucky living on the Westside of Long Beach. Not only were there a bunch of custom cars and hot rods, but the proximity to Lions Dragstrip was invaluable. But, one of the coolest things was a neighborhood movie theater that showed first run movies, including several 3D movies. This neighborhood theater was just down the block from where that Tahitian red, chopped, Ford F100 truck was always parked on Santa Fe Ave. Lloyd Whaley built post war homes near Santa Fe and Willow in the 1940s. Milton Arthur opened the Santa Fe Theater at Hill St. and Santa Fe Avenue. (three blocks from our house…) It was a busy intersection as the catty corner was a Foster Freeze stand alone restaurant and more family restaurants were directly across the street. Hollywood first run movies played here, like the latest 3-D movies: “The Charge at Feather River,” a 1953 Western film directed by Gordon Douglas, was originally released in 3D with lots of arrows, lances, and other weapons flying directly at the audience in several scenes. (very intense and had everyone ducking for cover.) “Creature from the Black Lagoon” is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster-horror film from Universal-International. (not as scary as the Feather River movie.) We stood in a long line to get into these two 3D movies. But, on Saturday mornings, there was an inexpensive, “kids only,” movie series on the large screen with cartoons and comedy films. We could walk to this neighborhood theater and it was always packed. For some reason, the movie attendance started fading By the time we were in Junior HS, 1956-58, it turned into a great, family bowling alley. By 1956, the movie theater was replaced by another 50s favorite, a huge, multiple lane, bowling alley with the latest equipment. That was our hangout during junior high school. Because we played almost everyday after school, the scores got higher and higher. (180 any good for a 12 year old?) Eventually, bowling, family, corporation & individual, fell out of favor and the whole complex, later, got demolished. Jnaki The Santa Fe Bowling Alley just before it got torn down into an empty lot for several months. Currently, that thriving intersection of Hill Street and Santa Fe became homes/duplexes replacing the Foster Freeze Shop, movie theater and a couple of other, small shops. Gone, but not forgotten. Santa Fe Theater on Santa Fe Avenue and Hill Street. Turned into a bowling alley during our junior high school days and eventually closed as that activity waned in the general public eye. Note: Almost every night, there were Leagues for bowling teams from all sorts of businesses and industrial teams. The local factories had folks wearing funky shirts with their names written in stitching and teams like Bill Williams Welding, or Roberts Sewing Company on the front and back of the shirts. Watching them bowl was fun at first, but bowling after school became a daily ritual. Plus, the folks wanted us to spend money as the “action” did not take place during the day, but at night when the teams all filled the parking lots and bowled in the league competition. One day, one of the workers we knew from a large shop team asked me if I wanted to substitute for one of their missing bowlers. I said yes, instantly. My scores were on the 170-180 average for a young teen. But, since I did not work at the factory, I did not get to bowl. One of the teams was from a Mobil Gas Station from the neighborhood just down the street. some of the similar insignia’s were on their shirts.
The Jalopy Journal
