The Madrid Theater is expected to open at the end of next year as the Canoga Park Arts District is gradually taking shape around it.
The city-owned theater has been under construction, said Jake Flynn, a spokesman for LA City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who represents Canoga Park. “That project is moving forward.”
Located at the center of historic Antique Row in Canoga Park, its 440-seat theater was once known as “the largest theater on the smallest piece of land in the United States,” according to its website.
Once it is opened, the Madrid Theater will be managed by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the department will work in partnership with local arts organizations. The theater is expected to open by the end of 2025, according to Blumenfield’s office.
The theater is undergoing a major $8 million facelift which includes the renovation of the lobby for a larger ticket office and a concessions area, the replacement of a manual marquee with a digital one, and upgrades of the sound and lighting system. The new theater will also feature a concert-grade piano.
Blumenfield told the Daily News in 2019 that the upgraded version of Madrid Theater would serve not just as a cultural and artistic hub but would be “a catalyst and a tool for economic development.”
Flynn said the councilmember’s team is working on a plethora of projects — all of them part of the Canoga Park Arts Hub district that will stretch along the Canoga Park-Reseda corridor and will encircle the Reseda Theater on Sherman Way.
Anchored by Madrid Theatre, the historic Canoga Park Arts District will include Taxco Theatre, which officially opened its doors in late January. Before it was purchased by the city in 2019, the theater was home to the West Valley Playhouse and Masonic Lodge.
Other developments of the future arts district include Reseda Theater at 18443 Sherman Way, which is currently under construction. Once the redevelopment is complete, the theater will be replaced by a Laemmle Theater with the popular blue Reseda marquee sign adorning its entrance. Only a few blocks away, a $26 million Reseda Skate Rink is currently under construction and is expected to open at the end of 2024.