19th Ave. / Worcester Ave. The Lake Theatre:
A billboard for the unbuilt Lake Theatre
on Worcester Ave. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. An
approximate address for the location would be 3950 19th Avenue. What is
now an extension of 19th Ave. was originally called Worcester Ave. | map |
The original Palace Theatre on the site had burned in October 1912. Ralph Warner Hart quickly designed a replacement theatre that was never built. A different design by different architects was constructed on the site in 1913-14. See nine more images from the plans for this unbuilt version down near the bottom of the Palace / Verdi / World page.
Clement St. An unnamed Richmond District theatre:
The
article appeared in October 1917. The site was to be on the south side
of Clement St. between 7th and 8th Avenues. The architect was to be
W.H. Weeks. | map |
It didn't happen due to, among other things, lack of a permit. Thanks to Chris Ellinger for posting the article and this bit about the outcome on the BAHT Facebook page.
A 299 seat house for the southwest corner of Divisadero and Grove was designed in 1913 by C.O. Clausen and evidently never built. This image, and ten others from the plans that are in the Gary Parks collection, appear on the page about the Divisadero and Grove project.
Ellis St. The American Music Hall:
This 2,200 seat house to be designed by O'Brien and Werner was to be on Ellis St. near Market. It was also referred to as the Morris Theatre, as it was a project of William Morris Western, a branch of the company's east coast vaudeville circuit. They were having trouble competing with Orpheum for the top stars of the kind Orpheum featured in their two-a-day houses.
A December 18, 1909 story about the Music Hall in the San Francisco Dramatic Review. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing the item from his collection.
Market St. A late-20s Paramount for the south side of Market:
Gary Parks has the report: "In the pages of Marquee, and in several slide lectures I heard him give about San Francisco theatres, Steve Levin mentioned that in the late 1920s, there was a plan to build a Paramount Theatre on the South side of Market Street. This would have entailed demolition of the St. Francis Theatre, and the acquisition of several adjacent properties. The architects were to have been Paramount’s favorites, Rapp & Rapp, and likely would have featured a design much like the Paramounts they designed for Portland and Seattle—both still extant.
"Its opening would have probably occurred in about 1930. Perhaps Rapp & Rapp, by this time experimenting with Art Deco like other architects, might have given San Francisco theatredom its only true Deco behemoth. This of course will never be known. Drawings were not done—at least, none have surfaced. The renamed Granada would soon flash the Paramount name, doing so into the 60s, and the St. Francis would live on, operating and escaping demolition until just after the turn of the Millennium."
Market St. A flagship house for General Theatrical:
General Theatrical Co. planned two projects in San Francisco at the close of the War -- expansion of their Empire Theatre on West Portal (executed), and a brand new 1000-seat house on Market Street (not executed). The theatre would have been adjacent to the Paramount (ex-Granada), and would have involved demolition of the two-story building housing the Regal Theatre. Thanks to Gary Parks for the information. He notes that much of his data comes from “Spoils of War, Plans for Peacetime,” an article by Steve Levin in Marquee, Vol. 27, No. 4. The article detailed what his family’s theatre chain was doing during and after World War II.
Gary comments: "Though not mentioned in the article, Steve told me in a conversation that he imagined that the theatre likely would have been designed by Alexander Cantin, Otto Deichmann, or someone of their generation and track record. Cantin did remodeling work for several Levin properties, and Deichmann would end up designing San Jose’s Garden Theatre for the Levins before decade’s end. No drawings of the new San Francisco house were done, apparently, and if a name for it had been chosen, that information is lost.
"Steve had in his collection an 82-page lease—never signed—which insisted that the payment be 'in gold coin or the market value of same, an unacceptable condition.' As General Theatrical’s office was located in the nearby Golden Gate Theatre office block, this downtown house could have been an obvious flagship operation. Steve felt that the theatre would have long paid for itself before the beginning of Market Street’s decline, two decades later."
Market St. ?
A design by Willis Polk for a theatre to be called the Lyceum. The drawing appeared in the illustrations section following page 68 of the August 31, 1901 American Architect. It's on the Hathitrust website. There seems to be no data who he was designing this for or where it was to be located. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding this hand colored version of the image.
Gary Parks comments: "Willis Polk was a first-rate architect, designing buildings at Cal, including the famous Campanile. He designed the storied estate on the Peninsula—Filoli."
There was a Lyceum Theatre at 7th and Market running from c.1904 to 1906 but it was in the Oddfellows Hall.
Mason at Eddy The Ferris Hartman Theatre / Ambassador Hotel:
This was announced in 1911 as a 1,600 seat legit theatre to be operated by comedic actor Ferris Hartman. It was part of a project that also included a hotel. Construction began then got stopped in December 1912 due to a legal fight between the developer and the owner of the property. It sat, unfinished, for ten years. When it opened in 1922 the hotel was called the Ambassador but what was to have been the theatre was turned into a parking garage. For more information see the separate page about the Ferris Hartman Theatre.
Mission St. An unnamed Mission district theatre:
The
item appeared in the August 1924 issue of Architect and Engineer.
Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding it for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
Montgomery Ave. An unnamed theatre for C.H. Brown
Jack Tillmany reports that in February 1906 it was announced that a
two-story brick theatre was to be built by C.H. Brown on the north side
of Montgomery (later Columbus) Ave., seventy feet south of Stockton.
O'Brien & Werner were to be the architects. That theatre was never
built but it appears that Brown and his team saved the plans and chose a 16th St. at Capp location instead for the theatre now known as the Victoria.
This was a 1910 design by the firm of Havens & Toepke that was to be on the northwest corner of Polk St. and Pine St. This facade view from the plans in the Gary Parks collection is one of 18 images on the Polk and Pine page.
Post and Powell Loew's Union Square:
Marcus Loew had been working with Ackerman and Harris, his west coast representatives," on the State Theatre
(called the Warfield by the time it opened) as well as a new house to be
called the Union Square at Post and Powell, diagonally opposite the St.
Francis Hotel. This is all chronicled in an article in the September
9, 1921 issue of Variety:
Too many theatres for Loew? Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding the article for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. The aborted project was to be designed by the Reid Brothers.
Glenn Koch commented: "I wonder how many people realize that the Grand Lake Theater design was actually a recycled version of an earlier theater design that the Reid Brothers did for a theater in San Francisco that never came to fruition? A good design is a good design! The original was for the Loew's Union Square Theater from about 1922. Was to be built on the site that would later be the home to the Fitzhugh Building and which is now where Sak's Fifth Avenue is located."
Gary Parks added: "Although I'll bet if the design we know now as the Grand Lake had been done on Union Square with the Loew money, it would have been terracotta-clad! It also would likely have been demolished by now."
Presidio Ave. The New Vogue:
A 1948 Jack Tillmany collection photo showing a billboard for the never built 1,200 seat New Vogue Theatre. It was on the east side of Presidio, north of California St. The car is southbound on Presidio at California. Jack Says: "Looks like condos there now." An approximate address would be 488 Presidio Ave. | map |
A detail of the billboard: "In the meantime - attend the Vogue Theatre Sacramento and Presidio." The new one never got built.
Jack notes: "After the idea of a New Vogue was abandoned, the billboard was used simply to promote the present one, and its "Single Features Exclusively" policy." See the page on the Vogue Theatre, still surviving as a single screen house.
Taraval at 29th Ave. Parkside Theatre
This Reid Beos. design was planned in 1927 as a project by the Parkside Realty & Improvement Co. Perhaps it wasn't actually going to be called the Parkside. A larger theatre by that name was going up at the same time on Taraval between 19th and 20th, evidently the reason this project was abandoned.
Van Ness Ave. at Geary St. New Columbia Theatre
Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this illustration in the June 18, 1906 issue of the San Francisco Call. For the accompanying article and more information see the page about the New Columbia Theatre.
| back to top | San Francisco Theatres: by address and neighborhood | alphabetical list | list by architect | pre-1906 theatre list | home |
No comments:
Post a Comment