Architect Scott Quintin designed the Romanesque Revival style church in 1931. The church was for many years the spiritual home to Asian-American Christians that lived in the area. Judge Delbert Wong, the first Chinese American judge in the continental United States was a member of the church as well as other prominent Chinese-Americans including actors Beulah Quo and Mako Iwamatsu. Judge Wong was instrumental in securing the church as a practice and performance space for East-West Players, the nation's first Asian American theater organization.
The church has been vacant for many years. The EWP theater group moved to a storefront location at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Virgil Avenue in 1972. The company moved from Silver Lake to Little Tokyo in 1998. The church property is currently (July 2016) leased to local developer Dana Hollister, who plans to turn it into a boutique hotel.
The Bethany Presbyterian Church is located at 1629 Griffith Park Boulevard in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Please do not use this image in any media without my permission. © All rights reserved.
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