Historic Warner Grand Theatre slated for digital makeover, won’t reopen until 2027

In January 1999, San Pedro’s Warner Grand Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places. On page 7 of its NRHP Registration Form, the following line comes in the first paragraph of the narrative detailing why the property qualifies for the distinction: “The Warner Grand […] retains its exterior and interior form and features essentially intact from its original construction.”

But the theater’s historic exterior is slated to change in a big way, as the City of Los Angeles has decided that a digital marquee will replace the classic sort that’s been there since the theater opened in 1931.

This replacement was not planned when the theater closed for renovations at the end of 2024. In fact, the approved plans’ only reference to the marquee indicated the contrary: “MARQUEE TO REMAIN, RESTORE DECORATIVE PAINT BEHIND NEON TO ORIGINAL COLORS, REPAIR AND REPLACE NEON AS NEEDED TO RESTORE NEON SIGNAGE.”

But the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), which operates the Warner Grand, claims that difficulty obtaining replacement marquee letters necessitates going digital.

“Yes, there will be a modification to the marquee,” replied DCA’s Nicki Genovese to a concerned area resident. “Snap Lok letters will soon be obsolete, and replacements will [no] longer [be] available. Additionally, placing the letters on the tracks has always been an awkward — and occasionally dangerous — task. Only the panels of the marquee will be converted to LED, making it possible to replicate the Snap Lok look of the old marquee, as well as providing opportunities for more creative signage, including high-res graphics and designs. The marquee itself, and the vertical sign will not be affected, although we do hope to be able to ‘refresh’ the paint colours.” 

The Bureau of Engineering, the City department responsible for the renovation, confirms the change.

“DCA found out that Snap Lok letter manufacturing has been winding down since the pandemic, making replacing the old letters difficult, if they were to fall off or become damaged, which happens frequently,” says BOE Director of Communications Mary Nemick. “Because of this, we will need to convert to a digital sign, much as the City did at the Vision Theatre Performing Arts Center and the Madrid Theatre. These marquees provide the option of replicating the look of Snap Lok letters as well as displaying more elaborate signage graphics.”

However, a simple web search for “Snap Lok letters” yields over a dozen vendors saying they have Snap Lok letters in stock, along with dozens more apparently selling generic versions. (Snap Lok is a trademarked brand.)

Nonetheless, plans for the replacement have proceeded so quickly that the nonprofit Grand Vision Foundation, the “Official Friends’ Group to the Warner Grand Theatre,” somehow not only acquired the Warner Grand’s marquee letters but was advertising their sale in promotional material for a theater fundraising event to be held on September 19: “At ‘A Wunderfully Grand Evening,’ you can buy a letter of your very own — to support the Warner Grand Theatre.” The Grand Vision Foundation also posted an Instagram video featuring Executive Director Liz Schindler Johnson touting the sale, showing off several of the letters, complete with what she said were “certificates of authenticity.” 

But questions quickly arose about the ownership of the letters and permission to sell them. When contacted by a concerned constituent, Councilmember Tim McOsker stated that he had “asked my Chief of Staff, Jeanne Min, to get background information on whether and when Cultural Affairs might have donated the letters to the nonprofit. I will know more after they have reviewed that history and authority.” (Min did not reply to RLn’s request for comment.)

However, DCA spokesperson Juan Garcia said that prior to being contacted by Random Lengths News for this article he was unaware that such a sale was taking place and promised to investigate the matter.

For her part, Johnson declined to comment on whether the Grand Vision Foundation has obtained either ownership of the letters or permission to sell them. In any case, it appears the sale has been canceled, at least for now: last week the above-mentioned video was removed from Instagram, and days later all references to the marquee letters and their sale were scrubbed from online promotional material for “A Wunderfully Grand Evening.”

According to the City, although presently there is no cost estimate for a change order covering the installation of a digital marquee, the contingency fund built into the project should cover the additional cost. 

The City estimates that this additional element of the renovation will extend the project duration by two to three months. But because of the City’s consistently mixed messaging regarding the project duration, it is unclear when the renovations will be complete. Between 2020 and 2023, the figure generally circulated by the City was that the project would take “18 to 24 months.” However, internal communications revealed that in October 2023 project manager Marcus Yee estimated that the renovation would take a full two years. Nonetheless, by summer 2024 the City’s standard line was that the project would take “approximately 500 calendar days,” even though as of November 2024 the Project Information Report listed the “Expected Duration [as] From 9/20/2024 to 11/1/2026,” or approximately 770 days. In January, the PIR was updated to correspond to “approximately 500 calendar days.”

Most recently, the expected duration has been updated to “9/20/2024 to 8/1/2026,” or approximately 680 days. By this estimate, considering that the renovation work did not commence until January 2025, the theater is not scheduled to reopen prior to January or February 2027.