Metro Theater compromise

July 1, 3:30 PMSF Architecture & Design ExaminerKaleene Kenning

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Photograph courtesy of Kaleene Kenning

Several years ago, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington placed San Francisco at the top of the country’s most endangered list for disappearing single screen neighborhood theaters. Today, only a dozen neighborhood movie theaters remain in San Francisco. The Metro is one of the best remaining neighborhood movie theaters in the city because it is in excellent condition and retains a very high level of integrity.

In 2005, in an attempt to preserve some of San Francisco’s most stately movie houses, city supervisors passed an ordinance that requires any conversion of a theater to non-theater use to go through a conditional permit review. Yet, when the curtain came down at the Metro Theater in 2006, members of the preservation community and neighborhood organizations feared the Metro may be added to long list of demolished movie houses.

The Metro Theater at 2055 Union Street was designed in 1924 by San Francisco architects James William Reid (1851-1943) and Merritt J. Reid (1855-1932), two of San Francisco’s most prominent architects during their time. They designed several extant San Francisco theaters: the New Mission Theater, the New Fillmore, the Coliseum, the Alexandria, the Balboa and the York. They also designed the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, the Fox in Redwood City, the Golden State Theatre in Monterey, the Sebastiani in Sonoma and the Sequoia in Mill Valley.

The Reid Brothers designed the 315 ft. high steel-frame San Francisco Call headquarters which, when completed in 1897-98, was the tallest building west of Chicago, almost double the height of San Francisco’s first ‘skyscraper’ (Burnham & Root’s 160 ft. tall Chronicle Building of 1889). They designed the Spreckels Car House (2301 San Jose, 1899-1901, now San Francisco Landmark #180), known today as the Geneva Car Barn. They designed the San Francisco landmark Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill which was close to completion at the time of the 1906 earthquake and was badly damaged by the fire; Julia Morgan supervised its repair and the Fairmont finally opened on April 18, 1907, one year to the day after the earthquake. Notable Reid Brothers structures in the western neighborhoods include: the third generation Cliff House (1909), the Dutch Cottage (1909), the Spreckels Temple of Music (1894-1900), and the never-completed Polo Grounds (1908) at Golden Gate Park. Additionally, they designed commercial buildings and churches, as well as mansions and luxury apartment buildings in Pacific Heights and Russian Hill.

The Metro, originally known as the Metropolitan, was built for owner Samuel H. Levin as part of Levin’s San Francisco Theatres Inc. chain, which originally consisted of the Alexandria, Coliseum, Metro, Harding, Balboa and Vogue theaters. The Metro is an excellent and intact example of early twentieth century theater architecture that combines elements of the Neo-classical and Art Deco architectural styles. It was designed only for “photoplays.” It did not have a stage so it could not be used for vaudeville shows like many other theaters.

In 1941 the Metropolitan’s interior and exterior were remodeled and “upgraded” by architect Otto Deichmann, associate of prominent architect Timothy Pflueger, and re-opened as the Metro. The auditorium’s original 1924 configuration and volume were unchanged during the 1941 and subsequent renovations.

The Metro is significant as the original home of the San Francisco International Film Festival, the oldest international film festival in the United States. Organized by the Levin family, it was the site of the festival’s Opening Night on 4 December 1957 and the site of the festival during subsequent years.

United Artists, which ran the theater for years, stunningly renovated the Metro in 1998. Workers discovered some of the original lighting fixtures and a gorgeous Egyptian motif mural that had been covered over for more than 50 years. Many of the art deco details were refurbished while giving it modern features such as banked seating and disability access.

United Artists filed for bankruptcy after the work was done, and Regal Entertainment Group – prominently operating multiplexes – took over the lease. Metro Theater closed in September 2006 after Regal sold the remaining years of its lease to the owner of the property.

The San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation connected the property owner with a theatre operator that was willing to keep the Metro open while a long-term plan for the property was developed. The property owner rejected this offer, and rumors flew that the owner was considering turning it into retail space.

In August 2007, the Theater Foundation began working with Supervisor Alioto-Pier to assist her in initiating the landmark process. A resolution was introduced in the fall of 2007. The landmark designation first went to the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board in February 2008. The Planning Department issued multiple extensions throughout 2008 so that the owner would have time to submit additional information about the interior. In December 2008 the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board voted by a 5-2 margin to recommend the historic Metro for San Francisco landmark status. The designation would include protections for the exterior of the building and a number of important interior features.

In November 2008 San Francisco voters approved the creation of the Historic Preservation Commission, which replaced the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board in 2009. The first meeting of the new Historic Preservation Commission took place on February 4, 2009.

After being boarded-up for three years, on June 29, 2009 compromise was reached between historic preservationists and developers who want to renovate the building. Although at first the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation was pushing to include the interior in the landmark designation, the Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee supported landmark status for the exterior of the building. The developer will seismically upgrade the building and committed to preserve some of the historic features inside, including a series of Heinsbergen murals, Ionic columns, grills and urns on the stage. The matter now goes to the full Board of Supervisors, but Union Street merchants are relieved.

The Metro Theater has been a Union Street fixture since 1924, when it served as the gilded centerpiece of the area’s Daylight Block, one of San Francisco’s first shopping districts. Buildings, and entire neighborhoods, should be preserved with rationale beyond the architectural significance of one building. The old and familiar in our environment nourish our sense of territory. The disappearance of a beloved old building can result in a loss of the feeling of identity and belonging, security and eternity. And the more ties to the past that are cut, the more we begin to lose orderly progress from the past into the future. The preservation movement grew powerful because of an awareness that a sense of place and time, and cultural continuity was fading. Many San Franciscans, highly aware of the importance of the physical qualities their city draws from the past, are fighting to save buildings, and entire neighborhoods, from demolition.

The San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation (SFNTF) is dedicated to preserving and maintaining San Francisco’s last remaining neighborhood cinemas. Movie theaters make important contributions to the unique character of San Francisco’s neighborhood commercial districts.

For more information: For information about the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation visit www.sfntf.org.