Opened: The four screen complex opened February 17, 1984 on the southeast corner of Sutter and Van Ness. It was the first new first new theatre building constructed in San Francisco in 55 years. Thanks to Kevin Dennis for his photo on Flickr. It's one he took in October 1997 while working for UATC. We're looking east with Blumenfeld's Regency I just out of the frame to the left.
Architects: Kaplan, McLaughlin, Diaz. The complex reportedly cost $7 million. Columnist Herb Caen described it as looking like a stack of telephone booths.
Seating: 2,200 was the "official" number according to Jack Tillmany. The two big houses had 750 seats each and featured 70mm capability and THX certifified sound systems. The two smaller houses held 350 each. All four auditoria were on the ground level with traditional sloped floors, not stadium seating. The restrooms were located upstairs.
Closed: December 15, 2005. It was a victim of larger multiplexes like the AMC 1000 Van Ness and the Metreon.
Gary Meyer commented at the time in a Balboa Theatre newsletter:
"It wasn’t my favorite theater but the large screens at the Galaxy offered a pretty good show before the megaplexes opened in SF....The theater did well but never spectacularly. But when the Regencys closed, unable to compete against the Metreon and AMC 1000, the corner lost its luster and the Galaxy had a tough time getting movies.
"They attempted to be an 'art cinema' but had to be content with the leftovers. With no marketing person on-site to promote the concept, and a rather programming schizophrenic approach, there was no sense of place. Rent was very high and the landlord wouldn’t let them close or leave. Finally a deal has been worked out and last night the Galaxy quietly closed. Today’s Movie Guides suggest you call for show times but it just rings. Theatre ghosts don’t answer the phone."
A c.1985 view from the Jack Tillmany collection appearing on the Open SF History Project website.
An undated view of the complex. It appeared as a post on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered as a post from Jay Bee.
Another 2011 demo view by Scott Broadhurst. His Galaxy photos once appeared on the site Photoblog but have now vanished from there. Here we're looking across Sutter St. toward Blumenfeld's Regency II.
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.
The site Cinema Treasures has a page about the Galaxy. Cinema Tour also has a page.
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