The theater was designed by Fresno firm, Johnson & Moore Consulting Engineers who designed the Biola Theater and Johnson was involved earlier in some of the facade work on the Warnors Theater in Fresno. It officially opened on 30 November 1948.[1]
In 1956 Acosta leased the Azteca Theater to Arturo Tirado[1] who is closely associated with the theater and entertainment in the Hispanic community into the 1980s when he retired. In 1961 Tirado was President of the Spanish Pictures Exhibitors Association representing 300 movie theaters in the United States. His father Romualdo Tirado was well known in California theater and a Cantinflas.
Besides popular films from the Mexican Cinema, singers and theatrical acts frequented the stage. The theater was a rallying point for César Chávez on 24 March 1966 when he made his march from Delano to Sacramento. [1]
The Azteca closed in the late 1980s and was partially reopening in 1999 with an art gallery and events. In 2014, the theater was restored.[3]
Architecture
The Azteca Theater is a 2-story brick masonry building constructed in a late Art Deco style.[1] A statue of Bruce Lee stands in the lobby, a hint of the fact that the theater would also play kung-fu movies.[3] The walls of the dressing room in the backstage have signatures of many artists that performed in the theater.[2]
The wooden organ pipes that were part of the theater are now on display on the walls of the next door bar, A Love letter to Fresno.[4]
Gonzales, Manuel G. (March 2006). "Arturo Tirado and the Teatro Azteca: Mexican popular culture in the central San Joaquin Valley". California History. 83 (4): 46.
