Pagoda Theatre
1741 Powell Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94133
1741 Powell Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94133
2 people
favorited this theater
Opened as the Washington Square Theatre in 1909.
Contributed by
Juan-Miguel Gallegos
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Recent comments (view all 31 comments)
I was the Theatre Manager of the Pagoda in 1986 not long after Alan Michaan took it over for Renaissance Rialto. At that time R.R. was booking it as a daily rep house with 2 new films each day. It was an amazing experience to be a part of the theatre’s history. Unfortunately due to high rent, lack of parking, numerous other Rep houses in town at the time, and other factors, the theatre just wasn’t making $. They started booking full week runs, which, depending on the film either did very well, or really poorly. Out of desperation they booked a live Chinese Opera there for a week run. It was interesting, but a complete nightmare as a manager. There was a tiny room next to my office which had 100’s of film reels from China. There was a rental apartment above my office which was attached to us by a spiral staircase. There was also a series of, what appeared to be, dressing rooms, that had not been used in decades. Very creepy to wonder around in these at night. Despite many crazy times there, I have wonderful memories of the Pagoda.
Here are two 1986 photos:
Photo1
Photo2
This is a 1969 photo of the Palace Theater.
A 1937 remodeling of the Milano Theatre was the work of architect A.A. Cantin, according to Architect & Engineer of April, 1937. The theater had suffered major damage in a fire, and the rebuilding was expected to cost $25,000. 1937 was the year the house reopened as the Palace, according to Jack Tillmany’s comment near the top of this page.
DOES ANYONE KNOW THE NAME OF THE THEATRE IN “The Laughing Policeman”. SHOT IN San Francisco.
Mikerogers, the theater in the movie Laughing Policeman was the Victoria on 16th Street. Back then, it was a burlesque house. The Palace was a nice theater, the last movie I saw there was a chinese horror film called The Chinese Ghost Story. The inside of the Palace reminded me of the Noe Theater, the lobby, phone booth, and the womens lounge were all in the same spots, looked the same, except the murals were different. There was this huge gong on the right of the stage, and before the movie started, this cute elderly lady that worked the snack bar, walked on stage and hit the gong. Then the drapes opened and the movie started.
A new MUNI transit proposal involves razing the Pagoda for a transit station: View article
yup, looks like it might be time to change the status to demolished..
As part of the MUNI T-line “Muni now plans to the raze the Pagoda Theater, extend the subway tunnel to the Columbus and Powell Street site, and extract all the machinery from there.”
Entire article here… http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2013/02/demolition_of_north_beach_pagoda_theater_up_for_approva.html
The vote for demolition has been delayed a week whilst the building’s owner and MUNI continue to haggle.
http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2013/02/pagoda_theater_demolition_and_central_subway_site_vote.html
Muni Will Pay $131,250 Per Month To Lease The Pagoda Theater Site…
Not exactly negotiating from a position of strength, Muni has agreed to pay Campos $3.15 million in rent for a 24-month lease. In addition, Muni will pay for the demolition of the Pagoda Theater and ask San Francisco’s Planning Commission to declare the site a Special Use District, clearing the way for the five-story Palace at Washington Square to rise.
http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2013/02/muni_will_pay_131k_per_month_to_lease_the_pagoda_theate.html