Ivy Substation

Ivy Substation (also known as the Ivy Park Substation or Culver Substation) is a 99-seat theatre in Culver City, California which formerly housed power equipment for the nearby electric railways and Ivy station. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.^[2]

Ivy Substation

Address	9070 Venice Boulevard Culver City, California
Owner	City of Culver City
Operator	The Actors' Gang
Capacity	99
Opened	1992
Website
www.theactorsgang.com
Los Angeles Pacific Company Ivy Park Substation
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 182
Location	9015 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34°1′34″N 118°23′32″W
Area	1.1 acres (0.45 ha)
Built	1907
Architectural style	Mission/Spanish Revival
NRHP reference No.	81000155[1]
LAHCM No.	182
Added to NRHP	March 25, 1981

History

A single-story, rectangular-shaped building in the Mission Revival style,^[3] it was built in 1907 as a traction substation by the Los Angeles Pacific Railway which subsequently became part of the Pacific Electric railway in 1911.

Ivy Substation, photographed 1909

Made of brick covered in stucco, the large interior once held old-style rotary mechanical rectifiers to convert very high voltage alternating current (AC) to 600 volt direct current (DC) to operate run cars for serve nearby streetcar and interurban lines: the PE's Venice Short Line, Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey Line, and Santa Monica Air Line.^[2]

Power from the substation served Ivy station (now Culver City station) and surrounding tracks until 1953.

It remained in service until 1953. The old equipment was removed and the building was purchased by the City of Los Angeles, but sat vacant for many years.

The building appears in the 1979 Charlie's Angels episode Angels On The Street.^[4]

In the early 1990s, the Culver City Redevelopment Agency and the City of Los Angeles renovated the building to use as a community theater by The Actors' Gang.^{[citation needed]}

The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places because of its association with the transportation history of Los Angeles as well as for its architecture.^[2]

See also

• Culver City station, formerly Ivy station.
• Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8
• Pacific Electric Sub-Station No. 14
• List of Pacific Electric Railway lines