Leimert Park's Vision Theatre Celebrates Its Grand Reopening Tonight After a $40 Million Restoration

Mayor Karen Bass joins Tina Knowles' WACO Theater Center to open the restored 1931 Art Deco landmark, followed by three days of free music, film and family events through Sunday.

By Herald Staff · Nov. 12, 2026, 2:30 PM ET

Illustration of a cream-colored Art Deco theater with a tall ornamental tower and a glowing marquee at dusk, with a small crowd gathered beneath strings of lights and palm trees silhouetted against an indigo and orange sky. — The Vision Theatre, a 1931 Art Deco landmark on West 43rd Place in Leimert Park, reopens with a grand celebration Thursday night and free public events through Sunday.

LOS ANGELES — After more than 15 years behind construction fencing, the Vision Theatre is ready for its big night. Mayor Karen Bass is set to join dignitaries at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for a grand-opening celebration at the restored Art Deco landmark at 3341 W. 43rd Place in Leimert Park, kicking off three days of free music, film and family events, MyNewsLA reported Thursday.

The $40 million restoration gives South Los Angeles a 729-seat auditorium with a newly built mezzanine and balcony, an expanded stage and backstage, and upgraded audio, video and broadcast technology. The theater will be run jointly by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and the WACO Theater Center, the arts nonprofit founded by Tina Knowles and actor Richard Lawson.

A Weekend Called 'Our Vision'

Thursday night's celebration is followed by a public program titled "Our Vision: Three Days of Black Art, Culture & Community," running Friday through Sunday. Every event is free, but an RSVP is required through the WACO Theater Center's website.

According to the schedule published by MyNewsLA and Variety, the weekend includes:

Friday, Nov. 13: a 6:30 p.m. pre-show, an 8 p.m. live show with Club 20/20 and "House Guest with Scott Evans," curated by Knowles, and a 9:30 p.m. outdoor night market along Degnan Boulevard.
Saturday, Nov. 14: an 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. family block party themed to "The Proud Family," followed by a screening of the Disney+ holiday special "A Proud Family Wizmas" and a talk with the show's talent.
Sunday, Nov. 15: guided tours of the restored building from 3 to 5 p.m., then a 6 p.m. concert launching the WACO at the Vision Music Series, with a live band led by Steve Mackey's Taco Tuesdays, The Sessions L.A. and The Crockpock.

The weekend also includes a conversation with the cast of Netflix's "A Different World," Variety reported. Wells Fargo is presenting the celebration, with Cécred and Walt Disney Entertainment as sponsors and KBLA Talk 1580 as media partner.

Nearly a Century on 43rd Place

The building has had several lives. Built in 1931, it operated as a movie house from 1932 to 1968 and was later owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Actress Marla Gibbs, best known for "The Jeffersons" and "227," bought it in 1990 and renamed it the Vision Theatre, with the goal of creating a home for Black arts and culture. The city purchased the theater in 1999, and an initial renovation was finished in 2011. The current overhaul, led by the City of Los Angeles, began in 2015.

The money came from several places. The city's Community Investment Department says the project used more than $18 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funds, and Bass has said she secured funding to start the renovations while she was in the state Assembly.

Thursday's gala is not the building's first ceremony. The city held a ribbon-cutting in August that drew more than 500 community members, arts leaders and elected officials, including Councilmember Heather Hutt, whose 10th District includes Leimert Park, according to the mayor's office. The Los Angeles Times reported then that city leaders see the theater as an economic and cultural engine for Leimert Park's Black Cultural Arts District.

"The Vision Theater rose again as a platform for Black creativity, community and commerce," Bass said in August. "When the Olympic and Paralympic Games arrive in 2028, I want the entire world to experience Leimert Park."

What Comes Next

WACO, founded in 2016, will use the theater for plays, music, dance and multidisciplinary shows, and as a training center for young artists in South L.A. The partnership between WACO and the Department of Cultural Affairs was set up in 2025 with help from the mayor's office.

"We want young people to walk through these doors and see a future for themselves in the arts," Knowles said in a statement. "We want this community to know that this theater belongs to them."

Shay Wafer, WACO's executive director, said the goal is a venue that is busy all year. "We are not just opening a theater; we are opening a door that will never close," she said in the city's statement.

Daniel Tarica, general manager of the Department of Cultural Affairs, called the restored building "a main stage that uplifts local talent" and "a cultural destination for all."

The Vision Theatre is a short walk from the Leimert Park station on Metro's K Line. Details on RSVPs and future programming are posted at wacotheatercenter.com.

Original reporting by The Los Angeles Herald, drawing on MyNewsLA, Variety, the Los Angeles Times, the Office of Mayor Karen Bass and the city's Community Investment Department, as linked above.