A timeless experience at the center of it all

Promenade at Downey is becoming Downey’s new community gathering spot and tourist destination, merging retail, dining, and entertainment with a one-of-a-kind walk through history.

A walk through history

Downey’s path to the stars

The History Walk at Promenade at Downey brings a unique destination experience to the project, highlighting Downey’s significant contributions to space exploration and movie making.

The story of the space missions is told through a processional walk in the entertainment court that features hardscaped decorative medallion markers and educational stations memorializing individual missions from the Apollo and space shuttle eras.

Downey Studios is represented in the entertainment court fronting the new cinema. Reading stations feature the blockbuster movies shot on site over the last decade.

Cradle of the cosmic age

When NASA selected North American Aviation to produce the Apollo command and service modules in 1961, Downey’s place in AEROSPACE HISTORY was sealed. But Downey’s connection to the wonder of flight had already been well established, dating all the way back to 1929, when Downey’s first airplane manufacturer opened its doors.

For FIVE DECADES, between 1936 and 1986, Downey was a cutting edge hotspot of aerospace innovation and production. From WWII bombers to space capsules and shuttles that put man on the moon and beyond, Downey’s contributions have earned it the title “CRADLE OF THE COSMIC AGE.”

Making movie history

Created out of the former Boeing plant where the Space Shuttle orbiters were assembled, Downey Studios was a force in major motion picture production from 1998-2010. The studio featured 80 acres of indoor and outdoor production space including what was the largest indoor water tank in North America and a suburban residential street backlot. Downey Studios contributed to some of the biggest blockbusters of its time.

1929 EMSCO Aircraft Corporation is established in Downey.
1936 Vultee Aircraft Corporation acquires original EMSCO property.
1941 Vultee becomes Consolidated-Vultee and begins producing U.S. military aircraft employed during WWII.
1953 North American Aviation (NAA) is awarded the Navaho cruise missile contract and produces the missile prototype.
1961 Downey joins the space race when NAA is awarded NASA contracts to build key components of the Saturn and Apollo space missions.
1978 Rockwell begins development of the four space shuttles starting with Columbia which launches in 1979.
1998 Downey Studios converts the massive structures on site into a formidable movie production studio.
2015 The Promenade at Downey opens and becomes a modern gathering place that honors Downey’s past.