UCLA Nimoy Theater

Built in 1940 as The Crest theater, the Nimoy—named for Star Trek-actor Leonard Nimoy—will become a new performance space for UCLA’s Center of the Performing Arts. The Nimoy will provide space for contemporary performance and create a dynamic hub for artistry. Page & Turnbull is preservation architect for the project. One of the most interesting aspects of the project is that the most historically significant aspect of the theater is not from 1940, but from the 1980s when it underwent a rehabilitation and Art Deco reimagining. It was then that noted Disney artist and theater designer Joseph Musil executed a hand-painted mural, evoking the atmosphere of 1930s Hollywood, in the theater’s auditorium. Musil also renovated Hollywood’s El Capitan in 1987. The Nimoy is a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument. Page & Turnbull, which has a long-term on-call contract to provide historic preservation services to UCLA originally advised the university regarding purchase of the former Crest Theater.