Huntridge Theater sometimes known as the Huntridge Performing Arts Theater is a Streamline Moderne

Streamline Moderne

Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...

 building located in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

 that is listed on the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. The building was designed by S. Charles Lee

S. Charles Lee

S. Charles Lee was an American architect recognized as one of the most prolific and distinguished motion picture theater designers on the West Coast.-Early life :...

.

First opened as a cinema, the theater also hosted stage performances and was a concert venue in its last years.

History

Construction began in 1942 with the theater opening on October 10, 1944. It was owned by Loretta Young

Loretta Young

Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...

 and Irene Dunne

Irene Dunne

Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...

 and was the first non-segregated

Racial segregation

Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...

 theater in Las Vegas.

The theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
On July 28, 1995, the punk rock group Circle Jerks

Circle Jerks

The Circle Jerks are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Los Angeles, California. It was formed by Black Flag's original singer, Keith Morris, and future Bad Religion guitarist Greg Hetson. They were among the preeminent hardcore punk bands of the L.A. scene in the late 1970s.The band...

 were to perform at the theater. Several hours before they were to arrive, the roof of the theater collapsed. There were no serious injuries. Lead singer Keith Morris would later comment, "As soon as we got there, we were told that the roof had collapsed and the show was canceled. We didn't have anywhere else to go, so we just set up our equipment in the parking lot and played for the 30 or 40 people who were still there."

While attempting to save the theater, it was operated by the non-profit Friends of the Huntridge Theatre, Inc..

The Huntridge Theater closed on July 31, 2004.

As of 2010, the building sits empty. All plumbing and power wiring has been destroyed by the homeless, leaving it at a sad state of disrepair.

Sources

• Las Vegas Sun
  Las Vegas Sun
  The Las Vegas Sun is a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper. It is one of Las Vegas, Nevada's two daily newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group....