Opened: 1911 as a Scottish Rite Tremple. The building is on the northeast corner of Van Ness and Sutter. The photo is from an article in the February 1918 issue of Architect and Engineer on various Masonic Temples in California.
The Blumenfeld circuit turned it into a film theatre, the Regency 1, in 1967. Despite the small screen size and bad sightlines due to the flat floor, it was one of
the city's major first run houses for 30 years. It was eventually
eclipsed by the nearby UA Galaxy 4 and the AMC Van Ness complexes.
The Blumenfeld's Regency II, the former Avalon Ballroom, was just around the corner on Sutter.
Closing as a film house: It closed as a film theatre in 1998. It's now called the Regency Ballroom, a concert venue operated by AEG/Goldenvoice.
Website: www.theregencyballroom.com
Stage Data:
Proscenium: 30' wide x 20' high
Stage depth: 19' Stage wall to wall: 46'
Thrust: 9' deep x 42' wide
Stage height: 4' 4" above dance floor
Ceiling height above stage: 24'
Battens onstage: 32' long - 1 CS, 2 US - on winches - 150 lb. weight limit
Trusses: 2 onstage, 1 FOF - all 36' long
Power: 400A 3 phase SR, 100 A 3 phase SR
Dressing rooms: 4 Bathrooms: 2 Showers: none
A house light plot from 2010. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating the tech data. Visit his Historic Theatre Photography site for tech information and thousands of great photos taken in the many theatres he's explored.
Don't miss the 2+ minute drone tour that sails through the three main performance spaces in the building. It's from the real estate firm CompassCAG and included in "Regency Ballroom Up for Sale...," an October 2021 story from SFist that also features a rendering of imaginary condos atop the structure. They noted that Goldenvoice would continue as tenant for at least part of the building after any sale. The fly-through can also be seen on Vimeo. Thanks to Mike Hume for spotting the story.
The building's rotunda in pre-snack bar days. From here one entered the side of the auditorium. The photo comes from the February 1918 issue of Architect and Engineer. It's on Internet Archive.
A lobby view from the building's days as a Blumenfeld circuit film house on Film-Tech. It's a photo by Scott Neff. Head to their index page for a list of theatre photos on the site.
A view of the rotunda at the Regency, leading into the side of the auditorium space. Source and date unknown.
Thanks to Andra Young on San Francisco Remembered for this 2016 look at the ceiling of the rotunda at the Regency. Her post on SFR includes many other views she took of the complex during an Edwardian Ball held there.
The auditorium's original look. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this fine version of the photo seen in the February 1918 issue of Architect and Engineer.
More exterior views:
A 1925 photo looking west toward Van Ness. The building this side of the Scottish Rite Temple is the 1911 Trianon/Avalon Ballroom, later the home of Blumenfeld's Regency II. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the photo on the Open SF History Project site.
The theatre in 1979 during the run of "Star Trek." Thanks to Isabella Acuña for the post on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered.
Trekkies still lining up in February 1980. It's a photo by Tom Gray that's in the Jack Tillmany collection.
Another "Raiders" shot. Thanks top Michael Coate for sharing this one as a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
Jack Tillmany's Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco" can be previewed on Google Books. It's available from Amazon or your local bookseller.
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