Central Los Angeles : Watts to Get First Movie Theater Since 1967

The City Council on Tuesday approved a plan that will give Watts its first movie theater since 1967.

Although it will feature first-run movies, the Watts Cinema Entertainment Center won’t be your typical theater: The movies will be shown at the auditorium of Markham Middle School on 104th Street. Tuesday’s council action allocated $1.4 million of city Community Redevelopment Agency funds to expand the school auditorium.

Barbara Stanton, executive director of the Watts Cinema and liaison between the Watts community and the Mann Theaters chain, said several companies are helping with the project.

“Mann Theaters are going to donate all the projection equipment and Warner Bros. has already said they will give us their movies for free. I’m sure others will help out too,” said Stanton.

The auditorium will start showing movies at 3 p.m. during the week and be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends.

“I think this is going to be fantastic,” said former Mayor Tom Bradley, who is on the advisory board of the Watts Cinema. Bradley played a role in the last first-run movies shown in Watts. After the 1965 riots, Bradley, then a city councilman, pushed for a neighborhood theater. Then--as is the plan now--movies were shown at the Markham auditorium.

The movies stopped playing in 1967. In early 1997, they should be back.