The three-story clock tower was the eye-catching piece of the exterior, clearly intended to differentiate from the other downtown buildings of the time and to ensure the theatre was recognizable from several blocks away. The exterior is a warm cream terracotta with features such as false ornamental window frames in a complementary beige with small highlights in burnt orange. That said, the Tower Theatre definitely capitalized on its state-of-the-art air cooling technology by providing windows in the stairway down to the basement lounges where patrons could gaze upon the new and mystical chilling equipment. Some sources credit the Tower as also being the first theatre in Los Angeles to feature air cooling, however Grauman’s Metropolitan (later known as the Paramount) a few blocks up the street opened with an air cooling system in 1922, and the State Theatre (1921) was advertising their retro-fitted “refrigeration plant” in the summer of 1927. The Tower was the first Los Angeles movie theatre wired for sound. Charles Lee persuaded Gumbiner that he could design the theatre, winning the deal on the promise he would include street-level retail and accommodate 1,000 patrons in the theatre (the original auditorium capacity ended up at 906). Gumbiner who had acquired the Garrick in 1921. The theatre was commissioned by independent exhibitor Herman L. The Tower Theatre opened on 12th October 1927, replacing the 650-seat Garrick Theatre which had stood on the site since 1910. ![]() Garrick Theatre in 1925, with the Singer Building on the right
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