Huntington Cinema (also known as Huntington Twin)
18543 Main, Huntington Beach, CA.

Specifications

    Operators: Edwards
    Status: Closed
    Opened: 12/25/64
    Closed: 4/09/98
    Current Use: Retail
    Screens: 1/2
    Seating: Slope (1000 seats)
    
Profile

Edwards Huntington Cinema opened on Christmas Day, 1964, as Edwards’ second Orange County location. Much like it’s predecessor, Edwards Costa Mesa Cinema (opened a year earlier), the Huntington Cinema featured a large, 1000 seat, auditorium and futuristic “Googie” style decor. The lobby was somewhat shallow, but broad, running the width of the building. As with all of Edwards’ initial entries in to the Orange County market, the venue was equipped with the day’s cutting edge technology (including “multi channel stereophonic sound”) and designed with a focus on luxury.

In the early 80’s the Huntington Cinema was twinned, cutting the seating down to around 400 in each auditorium, and renamed the Huntington Twin Cinema. Unfortunately, the twinning proved to be little more than a stop gap measure, as the venue began to fall victim to the popularity of multiplexes (and ultimately mega-plexes). While managing to hang on for another decade, in the spring of 1998, the Huntington Twin was quietly closed.

Shortly after closing, the building was converted in to a retail outlet and the original signage was donated to Huntington Beach High School (the “Huntington” sign now hangs above the school’s gymnasium).

Images

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