Clay Theatre

Last updated
Clay Theatre
Clay Movie theatre.jpg
Clay Theatre in 2007
Location2261 Fillmore Street,
San Francisco, California, United States
Coordinates 37°47′26″N122°26′04″W / 37.7905°N 122.4344°W / 37.7905; -122.4344
Builtc. 1913 – c. 1914
DesignatedMay 6, 2022
Reference no.302
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Location of Clay Theatre in San Francisco County
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Clay Theatre (California)

Clay Theatre is a historic 1913 single screen theater building in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States. [1] It was formerly known as The Regent, The Avalon, The Clay International, and Landmark's Clay Theatre. It has been listed as a San Francisco Designated Landmark since May 6, 2022. [2]

Contents

History

It was founded in c. 1913 – c. 1914, as The Regent, a nickelodeon-style small movie theater often showing Mary Pickford films. [2] [3] It later became The Avalon in 1931. [2] [3]

In 1935, it opened as The Clay International under the leadership of Herbert Rosener, and was focused on showing foreign films. [2] [4] It was the first theater in the city dedicated to foreign film. [2] The Song to Her (1934), and Goodbye, Beautiful Days (1935) were shown here in 1935. [5]

In the 1950s, the building exterior was greatly modified, including moving of the ticketing booth and a change to the shape of the entrance (formerly an archway). [1]

In modern-day, the single screen theater held 325 seats. [1] Filmmaker John Waters had remembered early showings of Pink Flamingos (1972) at the Clay Theatre. [6] It was also known for midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), after the film release and a decade after. [7] [8] The Clay was part of a chain of indie theaters across the United States owned by Landmark Theatres starting in 1991 (and sometimes called Landmark's Clay Theatre). [1]

Closure

The, now vacant and boarded up, Clay Theater in February 2025. Clay Theater UFRP.png
The, now vacant and boarded up, Clay Theater in February 2025.

In late January 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Clay Theatre was closed by Landmark Theatres. [1] [6] In 2021, the owner removed the seating from the theater and filed an application to convert it to retail use. [9]

The local community rallied in hopes of the building re-opening as a movie theater, [1] and in May 2022 it was designated a city landmark. [2]

In February 2024, the theatre and the building that housed the adjacent store, Alice + Olivia, were purchased by Neil Mehta as part of the Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project and was boarded up. [9] [10] In June 2025, the Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project announced plans to revitalize the theatre, reopening it as a repertory cinema with upgraded facilities and improvements to fire safety and ADA compliance. [11] As of July 2025, no reopening timeline has been released, though the initial announcement stated renovation plans will be submitted to the City of San Francisco "later this year." [12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Whiting, Sam (January 21, 2020). "Clay Theatre to close, last Bay Area single screen in Landmark art house chain". Datebook, The San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kukura, Joe (April 20, 2022). "The Clay Theatre on Upper Fillmore has finally received historic landmark status". Hoodline.
  3. 1 2 Tillmany, Jack (2005). Theatres of San Francisco. Arcadia Publishing. p. 66. ISBN   978-0-7385-3020-8.
  4. ↑ "Foreign Made Pictures To Be Screened Here". The San Francisco Examiner . March 28, 1935. p. 14. ISSN   2574-593X – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "French Romance Film Due". The San Francisco Examiner . April 17, 1935. p. 10. ISSN   2574-593X – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 Kukura, Joe (July 26, 2021). "Landmark status for Clay Theatre moves forward, theater may reopen yet". Hoodline.
  7. ↑ Zigoris, Julie (2022-03-24). "Sense vs. Sentiment: The Battle for the Soul of Fillmore's Clay Theatre". The San Francisco Standard. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  8. ↑ Barmann, Jay (2020-01-17). "Historic Clay Theatre in Pacific Heights To Close on January 26 After 110 Years". SFist. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  9. 1 2 Waxmann, Laura (February 16, 2024). "Historic S.F. theater sold for surprising price, and the buyer is a mystery". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  10. ↑ Waxmann, Laura. "Several buildings on this ritzy S.F. street are quietly selling at high prices. But who's buying?". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2025-02-07. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  11. ↑ Waxmann, Laura. "Historic S.F. theater to reopen as part of Fillmore revitalization". San Francisco Chronicle .
  12. ↑ "Historic Clay Theater Unveils Reactivation Plans" (PDF).
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