New Mansfield Development Murals Pay Homage to Site’s History

As the new “The Mansfield” mixed-use development at Wilshire and Mansfield inches toward completion (it’s scheduled to open in April, 2018), we learned this week that the development, which was re-designed after neighborhood input early in the planning process  to echo several architectural elements of the old Four Star Theater complex it replaced, will pay a more direct homage to the lost theater with several photo-based murals planned for the interior breezeway of the new building.  The area now looks like this:

But according to developer Aaron Korda, from the Korda Group, the hallways will soon include three new murals by artist Jeanine Hattas, all based on historic photos of the old theater, and painted on canvas applied to the concrete walls.  The main mural, which will be opposite the new leasing office, will show the crowds at the 1939 premiere of the movie “Hollywood Cavalcade,” and will be 34 feet long and 13 feet, four inches high. (Note: for some great old film footage of this event, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqjsPZxiq9k )

The second mural will show lighting from another old movie premiere…

And the third will show a marquee from the 1941 premiere of “That Hamilton Woman,” starring Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier. (Note that producer Alexander Korda’s name is also listed on the marquee for this one, but he is not related to developer Aaron Korda.  Just an “amazing coincidence,” says Aaron.)

Korda says, “We wanted to honor the history of the theater,” and the old photos the murals will be based on “really showed how popular the theatre was at the time, with the bleachers and all the people surrounding the marquee. The cars also really embody that time period.”

Commercial leasing for the building has already begun through agents Tim Bower and Gabrielle Lardiere of CBRE. Residential leasing will begin next year, but preliminary inquiries can be directed to Korda at [email protected] or (310) 842-4600.