The Padua Hills Theatre is located in the chaparral-covered foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. It is now a banquet facility but boasts a significant cultural past. The theatre was built in 1930 as a centerpiece for a community of local artists. Claremont residents made a tradition of attending dinner theatre in the lovely Spanish-Colonial building, which also housed a workshop for neighborhood artisans.
The theater's proprietors, Herman and Bess Garner, successfully operated the theater as a non-profit business from 1936 to its close with the expressed intent of forging "intercultural understanding" between European Americans and Mexicans. Consequently, the Mexican Players plays became recognized as much for their ability to defuse prejudice against Mexicans, as for their entertainment quality.
The Padua Hills Theatre dimmed its stage lights for the last time on Saturday the 28th of August, 1974. In 1973, a year before the theatre closed, Governor Ronald Reagan wrote "the unique service the Mexican players of Padua Hills Theatre has rendered in preserving and presenting the musical and dramatic arts of Mexico, which underlies California's cultural heritage, deserves the appreciation of us all."
In 1981, Herman Garner died and donated the Theatre and aurrounding land to Pomona College. In I996, the college gave the land to the City of Claremont. Subsequent land swaps made the Wilderness Park possible, but also resulted in massive housing construction east of the Theatre.
On October 25, 2003, the Grand Prix Fire's 150-foot-high flames bore down on the historic Padua Hills Theater. Firefighters had originally planned to battle the fire from the homes above the Padua Hills, but those homes were too far gone to save and the theater was still salvageable. In winds gusting between 50 and 60 mph, they finally had the fire under containment at 6 a.m. Sunday. There was some damage to the kitchen area, but because of the crew's vigilance they can count the tiny theater as one save in a weekend of loses.
The Theatre is set against the silhouette of the Angeles National Forest and overlooks the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park.