BACKSTORY: Located in downtown San Diego, California, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The Balboa Theatre opened March 28, 1924, as a combination stage and screen house, with a 1,500-seat capacity. The waterfalls on either side of the proscenium arch operated at full force during intermissions, but they dripped when they were turned off, which was distracting to the audience. The tiled dome of the Balboa is in the same style as the domes of the Santa Fe Depot at the foot of Broadway. Designed by architect William Wheeler, the Balboa was owned and operated by Robert E. Hicks, a former Colorado newspaperman and columnist for the San Diego Union. The 426-pipe Robert Morton pipe organ installed in the Balboa was built in Van Nuys in 1922 and moved to the new Fox Theatre in 1929. The Balboa was remodeled for sound pictures in 1930, when a new neon marquee was added, and soon became the city's leading venue for Spanish-language films and stage shows. After 1932, however, the theater was used mainly as a film house on "the wrong side of Broadway" with occasional stage shows. The theater was converted to housing for the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, it resumed operation as a movie theater but struggled to stay afloat. In 1959, when the Balboa was to be razed in favor of a parking lot, it was purchased by the Russo Family Enterprises, remodeled and operated by the Fox chain. The theater was designated as a local historic site in 1972. The Russo family took over its operation in 1976 and eventually leased it to Walnut Properties, which operated the Paris Pussycat Theatre nearby. Though no X-rated films ever were shown at the Balboa, its management by Walnut further tarnished its reputation at a time when downtown theaters were being demolished wholesale in the name of redevelopment. The Balboa closed its doors in the 1970s and remained vacant for many years. Architects of the Horton Plaza Shopping Center incorporated the Balboa's distinctive tiled dome into the general look of the shopping center, thus guaranteeing that the exterior, at least, would survive. The City bought the Balboa in 1986 through condemnation, but a scheme to gut the theater and turn it into an art museum foundered. Restoration work finally began in 2005, and the theater re-opened in 2008 as a venue for live theater and concerts.
