The Outer Limits

Geneva Ave. | map |

Jack Tillmany notes that the Outer Limits straddled the San Francisco / San Mateo County line. He adds: 

"The actual address is unknown. Geneva crosses the County Line at Santos, which would place it in the 2100 or 2200 block on the North Side of the street, opposite the Cow Palace."

 

 A 1970 photo by Tom Gray from the Jack Tillmany collection. Jack comments: 

 

"That uphill residential street behind the building may be Santos. Tom lived near Geneva Avenue, so knocked off this puppy, which otherwise, would have come and gone undocumented." 

Thanks to Jack for locating this 1970 story about the venue. He comments:

"The Examiner explained the situation in this one and only newspaper piece, which is really worth reading for an insight into the San Francisco political scene. Geneva Avenue runs West to East, and along the way, crosses the invisible San Francisco / San Mateo County Line, which situation also played a part in the history of the Geneva Drive-In. See pages 12-13 of our Arcadia book 'Theatres of the San Francisco Peninsula.'"

Gary Parks comments on the architecture and location: 

 

"It looks like a nickelodeon for porn. Funny story about the whole zoning thing. Must have seemed like a good idea at the time: All those livestock shows, monster truck shows, tractor pull shows, gun shows, home improvement shows, and why not some exotic dancing when you come out of a rock concert with a nice contact high? But…all things pass, and so did this."

Status: The building has been demolished.

More information: 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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