AMC 1000 Van Ness

It is interesting to note that the former Cadillac showroom housing this megaplex was designed in the 20s by Weeks & Day, architects of a number of theatres in the Bay Area and elsewhere, including:
(Fox) Peninsula, Burlingame (demolished)
Fox Oakland (scheduled for revival)
Stanford, Palo Alto (restored)
(Fox) California, San Jose (restored)
(Loew's) State, Los Angeles (church)
Fox, San Diego (Copley Symphony Hall)

The upper floors of this building where the movie theatres are today, were once the studios and offices of KFRC and the production center for the Don Lee/Mutual radio network.

Among the people who got their start in show business there were talkshow host/crooner Merv Griffin and Bea Benaderet. Bea was the next door neighbor on the Burns & Allen show, Kate the proprietor of the Shady Rest Hotel on Petticoat Junction, and the voice of Betty Rubble on the Flintstones.

KFRC fed programs to the Mutual radio network and to its sister station in LA, KHJ. Mutual was the network most famous for the Lone Ranger radio show.

My mother (a radio actress in the 1930s at both Don Lee/Mutual and NBC) said that there was a large studio on one floor where such bands such as Benny Goodman's performed on a regular basis.

Teh AMC 1000 Van Ness multiplex opened on July 10, 1998 with seating listed at 3,146.

The Van Ness along with the Kabuki are slated to be sold as part of the AMC/Loews merger.

Here is the press release from Business Wire.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20051221005641&newsLang=en

When this city lost the Alhambra, the Regency's and the Royal I had no choice but to go here.
Each visit had been frought with problems: rude, loud patrons; loooooooong commercials before the feature; my gift certificates weren't honored on several occasions because the boxoffice worker said they couldn't be used for most engagements (they are not PASSES, they are SAME AS CASH), the once-nice cafe shut down and too many of the theaters are too small for some showings. The box-office itself clashes with the classy interior of this gorgeous building! There was a lame restaurant nearby that looked out-of-place. The line to the box office is terrible and getting in and out of the place is an obstacle course because of all the people milling around - it gets noisy and chaotic. They ruined a great building. Had they gone with the architecture and been creative, the place could have been classy and cool. Instead it's like a noisy mall.
The best time to go is the very first show or the very last show. Avoid Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings unless you want to clash with all the tough youths that appear in droves.
There is no charm to the place.
Each auditorium has garbage bins as you enter that are built into the wall so you are met with the stench of garbage each time you enter and exit each and every theater. Smells like a locker room sometimes.
I have stopped going even though I have a few un-honored gift certificates in my possession. I got tired of trying to explain policy to the kids working there.
If it closed, it'd be a distant memory.

I went to this theatre years ago on a trip to SF, and went again last week on another trip. My main reason for going was its future sale and possible permanent closure. When i first went here back in 99 i remember its unique layout. Here in Los Angeles our theatres are on the ground. The AMC Van Ness 14 made unusual use of a building. I agree the lobby is an unused waste and could be put to better use. Its a large empty lobby. The ticket taker is located on level 1 and you then use a series of escalators to get to your theatre. Level 2 has theatres 1-4, level 4 has theatres 5-9, and level 7 has theatres 10-14. When you get to the top there are great views of the city including City Hall and the Opera House Plaza area. When you stand by the rail around the escalators you get this awesome vertigo feeling. I found the theatre to be pleasant and this last time i had a screen on level 7, and all the way up there i kept thinking it would be a closet size theatre being way up top. I was wrong, the screen was a fairly big in size, wall to wall, and very clear. To me the worst part of visiting the AMC Van Ness 14 was the parking w/validation was $6.00 however this was the norm around SF. I hope this building remains a theatre. If not i will always have the memory of going to a movie theatre that was not the same old cookie cutter design. This theatre and 9 others are set to close and be sold by AMC as part of the merger deal. The AMC web site lists the 10 theatres affected. This also includes the AMC Kabuki 8.

Who are the managers of this megaplex? I used to know most managers in the 1980s and wonder how many are still around.

Unfortunately, San Francisco is limited on the amount of theaters it has, so the AMC 1000 Van Ness usually plays to large crowds at all times. Its a pretty nice theater...but the presentation is not great. For example, on a recent night we went to a 10:40pm showing of a movie which didn't finally start until 11:15pm--35 minutes after the stated starting time. There were TONS of ads and previews to the point that the audience was visibly annoyed! This will make me think twice about going back next time, but something tells me AMC/Loews couldn't give a damn.

This is a recent photo of the Van Ness.

It seems this building was constructed in 1912. Some nice vintage photos and info here:
http://www.bayarearadio.org/schneider/donlee1.shtml

Here is another photo.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=6852721