Growing up in San Fransico I remember my father and I going to the movies together. On Saturday afternoons we’d head over to one of the city’s grand movie theaters – The Alhambra on Polk Street or the Metro on Union Street, just to name a couple. Later when I was in high school, my friends and I hit those theaters and others.
I have fond memories of that unique movie theater experience – the buttery popcorn smell swirling around the vast theater space, the rough texture on the wide cushy seats, the pinch of excitement I felt as the lights dimmed and the curtains raised. Those grand (single screen) theaters in SF and across the country have since either been sliced up into multiple shoebox size mini-theaters or (worse) turned into fitness centers. The movie theater experience is not the same.
Now the last grand movie theater in SF – the beloved Castro Theater – has a new partner and the plans are to replace the plush seating with tiers without seats to add standing room for concerts.
Here’s a more detailed explanation from the Art Deco Society of California:
New management (Another Planet Entertainment) has plans to remove the seats on the main floor and replace them with staggered tiers without seats or temporary seats which will not be conducive to movie going or for film festivals in the future. This would be a terrible loss as the Castro is the last remaining historic “Movie Palace” in San Francisco in which to have the magical experience of watching a film with a sloped floor and plush theater seating. Designed by Timothy Pflueger in 1922, it is an Architectural Treasure, inside and out.
The Castro Theatre, famous around the world, is the sole surviving single-screen movie palace in the city of San Francisco. The seats on the main ground floor are from the second period of significance in the landmark amendment, which covers the important LGBTQ history and programming period, from the 1976 to 2004 time frame. The balcony still has some original seats from 1922 and many others from the 1937 remodel. All the seats together in the theatre, the aisles and the sloped auditorium floor are among key character-defining features of this historic theatre.
The Castro Theater is known and loved for its many film festivals, including the annual Film Noir Festival.
Currently The Castro has landmark status for the just the outside of the building. Please consider signing the petition to “Save Our Seats” and expand the landmark status of The Castro to include the inside of the building.
Enough of the destruction of all that is stylish and good in the Bay Area! Please spread the word. Thank you.
There is more we can do – click here for information about other ways to help.
OverDressed for Life 