4-Star Theatre

the 4 Star is a 3 screener - brings to mind that line about not going to a theatre where the bathrooms are bigger than the auditoria. Lease runs thru 2005 - property purchased by Canaan Lutheran Church, SF for their new sanctuary.

The 4 Star is a twin with a very large original size screen and seats 200. The smaller screen seats 49 people. They are curently negotiating a new lease that extends past May 2005. The theatre has been profitable since it was twined in 1996.

See www.save4star.net for more details on this theater which is threatened with closing when its lease expires in May 2005.

Photos & history at this link:
http://www.outsidelands.org/fourstar.html

From the SF Public Library website:

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8731.jpg

Here is a photo of the La Bonita in 1919:

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-8910.jpg

Since WHEN has the 4-Star had a third screen? The Screens section should list "Twin" (as Frank Lee already pointed out), not "Triplex."

Again, according to Lee, the 4-Star seats a total of 249 people (not 365 as stated above, though that may have indeed been its seating capacity as a single-screen). Hate to nitpick like this but...

This is a recent photo of the 4-Star Theater.

Excellent news! The Lees have won the fight to keep the theater! Acoording to today's SF Chronicle, the church who owned the building agreed in mediation back in July to sell the property to the owners of the 4-Star, Frank & Lida Lee. They had 150 days to assemble the financing for the $1.45 million purchase price. On Wednedsay, Frank Lee said that they had beaten that deadline by a week and that the deal has cleared escrow & was finalized on Monday. Lee does plan to do some "long-planned renovations". According to the attorney for the church (previous building owner), "With all the adverse publicity & politics, it would have been an uphill battle to build their church, so they bit the bullet & sold it, at an overall loss, to the Lees." The article did mention that the Lees had enlisted the help of the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation.

Here is a night view of the 4 Star Theater.

This is a 2007 close-up view of the 4 Star Theater.

Another photo of the 4 Star Theater can be seen here.

Here is a more recent night view of the 4 Star Theater.

Here is another view of the marquee:
http://tinyurl.com/3dcuj6

Someday you might actually find a photo of a whole theater. I find thousands of marquee photos and don't post them. I think I'll start posting them now.

I like marquees. It's subjective.

Subjective or ridiculous? There are a number of theater photos already here that include the marquee. I could understand if it was a vintage photo.

Here is the 4-Star Theater website.

This is another photo of the 4-Star Theater.

Here are some 1986 photos:

Photo1

Photo2

Photo3

Photo4

Here is an undated photo:
http://tinyurl.com/oy672o

This is a June 2009 photo.