Park Theatre

1275 El Camino Real,
Menlo Park, CA 94025

4 people favorited this theater

Built in 1947, The Park Theatre is located between Oak Grove and Val Pariso in lovely Downtown Menlo Park. Like the nearby Guild Theatre, the Park is a short drive north of the Stanford Shopping Center. In the early days of the Park, live vaudeville-style stage plays abounded.

Eventually converted to a movie theatre, the theatre hosted the Bay Area’s premiere of “Singin' in the Rain” in 1952. Since this time, the Park Theatre has retained its classic and elegant atmosphere, and in 1998 it was presented with a plaque for its contribution to historical preservation.

Between 1989 and 2002, Landmark Theatres operated the theater and featured the finest in independent film and foreign language cinema.

Recently, however, the theater closed and the property was put up for sale. Additionally, the letters and neon tubing have been removed from the theater’s marquee.

Contributed by Michael Collier, Donald John Long

Recent comments (view all 24 comments)

kencmcintyre on February 1, 2008 at 7:16 pm

Here is the most recent news:
http://tinyurl.com/35nlmy

bkengland on February 1, 2008 at 7:39 pm

The 2/1 link does not work.

kencmcintyre on February 1, 2008 at 7:42 pm

Try it again, it’s working for me.

lostmemory on February 1, 2008 at 7:42 pm

The link posted by ken mc on Feb 1, 2008 at 7:16pm works. The headline reads: “Park Theater could get face-lift after all” By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer.

bkengland on February 2, 2008 at 6:40 pm

Yes, it looks good now; however, note that the Daily News likely won’t keep the article at this url for very long, so you might want to provide a brief summary of its content here.

lostmemory on February 12, 2008 at 2:35 pm

This is dated Sep 13, 2007 which is newer than the Jan 25, 2007 story posted on Feb 1, 2008.

Joe Vogel on March 19, 2009 at 11:56 pm

The August 24, 1946, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the Park Theatre was under construction and expected to open in November that year. It was designed by San Francisco architect O.A. Deichmann (Otto Deichmann.) He also designed the Del Rio Theatre in Riverbank, California.

The March 22, 1947, issue of Boxoffice said: “Bob McNeil of Golden State gave a gala reception at his home last week following the opening of the Park Theatre at Menlo Park. Looks like the opening was a bit behind schedule.

Joe Vogel on March 19, 2009 at 11:59 pm

I forgot to close my quotes. The last sentence in that comment wasn’t in the Boxoffice item.

lostmemory on July 12, 2009 at 1:16 pm

Here are some 1986 photos:

Photo1

Photo2

Photo3

TLSLOEWS on February 21, 2010 at 2:58 pm

Nice phots Lost Memory.