Opened: November 30, 1907. It was on the northwest corner of Clement and 7th Ave. It's listed as "Fischer's" in Henry's 1907-08 Theatrical Guide with a Mr. H. Bush as manager. The drawing comes from plans for the project that are in the Gary Parks collection. See eight images from the blueprints at the bottom of the page.
Architect: David C. Coleman.
Seating: 400 was the announced capacity. Gary's count of seats on the plans yielded 198.
Closing: 1919. Jack Tillmany comments: "It's still listed in the telephone directory of 1 January 1919, but obviously was unable to compete with the 22 November 1918 opening of the grander and glorious-er Coliseum 2 blocks away, a typical pattern of that era."
Status: The building later became a Bon Omi variety store. It was remodeled, perhaps in the 70s, to become a Bank of America branch.
An October 25, 1907 item from the Richmond Banner. Thanks to the indefatigable John Freeman for all the ads and articles from the Banner.
A November 29, 1907 ad in the Richmond Banner.
A November 29, 1907 item from the Richmond Banner.
A December 6, 1907 item from the Richmond Banner.
New equipment! A June 5, 1908 item from the Richmond Banner.
A November 29, 1907 item from the Richmond Banner.
A December 6, 1907 item from the Richmond Banner.
New equipment! A June 5, 1908 item from the Richmond Banner.
A September 4, 1908 ad in the Richmond Banner.
A November 13, 1908 item from the Richmond Banner.
New equipment again. A February 19, 1909 item from the Richmond Banner.
A November 13, 1908 item from the Richmond Banner.
New equipment again. A February 19, 1909 item from the Richmond Banner.
A 1961 view of part of the Bon Omi store that took over the theatre building. We're looking west on Clement at the theatre building (on the far right) as well as an adjacent building to the west of the theatre. The photo was a 2019 post of Colleen Mullins on the I grew up in San Francisco's Richmond District Facebook page. Thanks to David Gallagher and Jack Tillmany for spotting the post.
Jack comments: "The family name was Bonomi and they just split it in half, secretly knowing its French sounding synonym would tickle the eardrums of their customers."
Jack comments: "The family name was Bonomi and they just split it in half, secretly knowing its French sounding synonym would tickle the eardrums of their customers."
A 2017 view west on Clement. Photo: Google Maps
Jack Tillmany asks: "Could it be the building that's still there now which is housing Bank of America?" Gary Parks says: "Yes! I compared aerial views of the existing Bank of America building roofline to the way the roof is structured on the plans, and it’s still the same. Positive Identification!"
An aerial view of the Fisher's building. Photo: Google Maps - 2018
The architect's information from one of the sheets.
A closer look at the Clement St. elevation.
A section through the ticket lobby, projection booth and rear of the auditorium.
A detail of the plan for the screen end.
Images from the plans for the building in the Gary Parks collection:
The architect's information from one of the sheets.
At left the Clement side of the building. At right is the elevation for the 7th Ave. side of the corner. Gary comments: "Note how the entrance features an opening on the side
('Open'), which makes sense. What’s fun to see is how the Bank of
America—now occupying the building at the time of this writing—has the
same kind of entrance. The Ionic pillar ornamentation may be long gone,
but that corner structural post housed within it is still there, doing
its job, with entrance space on all sides of it."
A closer look at the Clement St. elevation.
The front part of the 7th Ave. side of the building. Note the view of the floor line inside sloping upward toward the back row of seats.
A section through the ticket lobby, projection booth and rear of the auditorium.
A floorplan for the front of the building. Gary comments: "When I counted the
seats—taking into account the places ink lines were added to show aisles—I got
a total of 198 seats. A bit different from what the press said at the
time of opening."
A detail of the plan for the screen end.
A section view looking at the proscenium with a 12'6" x 16' "Transparency" specified. Gary comments: "Here’s the telltale drawing, which shows that the profile of the roof
structure matches the roof shown in the aerial photo of the building as
it is today."
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