El Capitan Building

The “Father of Hollywood”, Charles Toberman, and his associate Sid Grauman built the El Capitan Theatre and Office Building in 1926 as well as the famous Egyptian and Chinese Theatres. Toberman dreamt of creating a thriving theatre district, and with the help of the architectural firm Morgan, Walls and Clements, his dreams became reality with the completion of the three theatres. The cast concrete Spanish Colonial Churrigueresque façade makes this historic building stand out amidst the National Register Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District. It is also listed as a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument. Within its first ten years of existence, one hundred and twenty plays were produced at the theatre. Later, it began showing movies and housed the world premiere of Orson Welle’s Citizen Kane when other movie theaters did not want to risk showing it. To this day, the theatre still shows world premieres. The El Capitan Theatre is home to “Disney” world premieres and other special events that keep Hollywood Boulevard glamorous.

Spectra has completed a wide variety of services on the El Capitan in recent years including restoration of damaged cast stone figures and recasting of missing portions of damaged statues, preservation consulting, metal restoration, decorative paint finishes, and restoration painting as well as ongoing annual maintenance.

Scope of Work

Concrete Repair • Decorative Concrete • Decorative Metal • Decorative Paintings & Murals • Estimating & Value Engineering • Facade Rehabilitation • General Contracting • Materials Restoration • Metal Windows • Plaster • Preconstruction & Design • Preservation Consulting • Restoration Painting & Coatings • Self-Perform • Waterproofing/Roofing