Opened in 1926, the current Shrine Auditorium replaced an earlier 1906 Al Malaikah Temple which had been destroyed by a fire on January 11, 1920.[1] The fire gutted the structure in just 30 minutes, and nearly killed six firefighters in the process.[2]
In the late 1960s, the Shrine was referred to as "The Pinnacle" by the audiences of rock concerts.
In 2002, the auditorium underwent a $15 million renovation that upgraded the stage with state-of-the-art lighting and rigging systems, and included new roofing and air conditioning for both the Auditorium and Expo Center, modernized concession stands, additional restrooms, repainting of the Expo Center, and a new performance plaza and parking garage. The entire complex follows a Moroccan architectural motif.
The old Shrine Auditorium, 1905.
The old Shrine Auditorium, 1910.
The Shrine Auditorium in 1990, before the 2002 renovations.
Building
The new auditorium was designed in the Moorish Revival style by San Francisco-based theater architect G. Albert Lansburgh, with local architects John C. Austin and A. M. Edelman associated. When built, the auditorium could hold 1,200 people on stage and seat an audience of 6,442. An engineer who consulted on the project said that the steel truss supporting the balcony was the largest ever constructed.[3]
The Shrine Auditorium seats approximately 6,300 people (reduced during the 2002 renovation from the original 6,700 capacity) and has a stage 194 ft (59 m) wide and 69 ft (21 m) deep.
The Auditorium features two boxes above the orchestra level holding 40 people each and seven loges on the balcony holding between 36 and 47 seats each (total capacity of the loges: 274). Of the remaining seats, 2,964 are on the orchestra level and 2,982 on the balcony level.[4]
Adjacent to the Auditorium is the Shrine Exposition Hall. This is a multi-purpose event facility. It features 54,000 square feet (5,000 m2) of exhibit and meeting space—34,000 in the main level and 20,000 in an open mezzanine. The Exposition Hall has a capacity of 5,000 patrons. Trade shows, banquets, conventions and electronic music festivals, among other events, have been held there.[5]
^"The Shrine Auditorium Fire". Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Archive. L.A. Fire. 1999. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
^Auditorium, Shrine. "Venues | Shrine Auditorium". www.shrineauditorium.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
^"Inductee Explorer". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
^“Fourteenth Year Jazz Cavalcade At Shrine Next” The California Eagle. July 3, 1958.
^Reed, Tom (1992). The Black Music History of Los Angeles - Its Roots: A Classical Pictorial History of Black Music in Los Angeles from 1920-1970 (1st, limited ed.). Los Angeles: Black Accent on L.A. Press. ISBN978-0963290861. OCLC28801394.
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