Whither the Shrine Auditorium?

(Flickr pic by Alan Light.)

Now that it's official that the Emmys are moving to L.A. Live's Nokia Theatre, that makes yet another major event that has vacated the Shrine Auditorium.

The Shrine first opened in 1926 as the headquarters for the Shriners' Al Malaikah Temple. Architect G. Albert Lansburgh designed the building, along with local architects John C. Austin and A. M. Edelman, according to Wikipedia.

The Academy Awards, the Grammys and the Emmys all once made the Shrine their usual home. Slowly, that's changed, as the Oscars moved to its signature Kodak Theatre home, while the Grammys (which used to swap coasts, but now mostly airs from L.A.) expanded into the Staples Center. Among the holy trinity of Hollywood awards shows, that left the Emmys.

Now, of course, the Emmys move to the Nokia starting this year (with the Governors' Ball at the Convention Center next door). Another event that also broadcast from the Shrine, the American Music Awards, moved to the Nokia last fall.

To be sure, the Shrine still holds many big events, such as the SAG Awards, and is the venue for USC graduations, among other celebrations. The venerable auditorium isn't going anywhere. And it's not like the Shrine has always held these events anyway; the Oscars only moved to the Shrine in the late 1980s after a run at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and the Emmys just moved to the Shrine a decade ago after a stint at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

But at the same time, people in the rest of the country will be hearing those booming words -- "LIVE! From the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles!" -- less often in the future. And the Shrine may be destined to join sites such as the Forum, the L.A. Memorial Sports Arena and the Grand Olympic Auditorium as classic L.A. venues whose glory days may be behind them.