Regency Theater

4940 Watt Avenue,
North Highlands, CA 95660

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Pussycat Theatres

Architects: Herbert E. Goodpastor

Previous Names: Coronet Theater, Pussycat Theater

Nearby Theaters

Regency Theater Closed

This opened on November 22, 1963 as the Coronet Theater showing double features where all seats were $1. The opening movies were Sidney Poitier in “Lillies of the Field” & Margaret Rutherford in “The Mouse on the Moon”. In 1976, it became an adult theater and was taken over by the Pussycat Theater chain on May 20, 1976 when it was renamed Pussycat Theatre. It later continued to operate as an adult theater, known as the Regency Theater by an independent operator until it closed in late-2007.

It was demolished in December 2008.

Contributed by scottfavareille

Recent comments (view all 16 comments)

Alan Bell
Alan Bell on January 26, 2008 at 7:22 pm

From CBS News, January 21, 2007:
Former Adult Theater May Become Family Buffet

Instead of attracting naughty customers, this piece of property at Watt and Myrtle Avenues could soon be catering to hungry ones. With the Regency XXX Theater now out of business, potential buyers are making offers on the property. According to the Sacramento Business Journal, the Golden Corral buffet chain would like to put a family style restaurant here.

Some neighboring property owners are applauding the possibility. “They were good neighbors, but it’ll certainly be an improvement if the buffet moves in. It’d be good for North Highlands, and I think it would be good for our property,” says Jim Streng.

This neighborhood has been gradually changing over the past few years, with your typical Starbucks, Panda Express, and Jamba Juice explosion. People who live around here tell us they’re happy to see anything more family-friendly than a porn theater.

“It involves the children, and I happen to be a father myself,” says Jeffrey Thomas. “It just doesn’t make me feel too comfortable with something like that near so many youth.”

But one property owner who owns a nearby sushi establishment is not so happy about what’s going on here. The Golden Corral buffet reportedly wants this property too, which would force the sushi place to move. That restaurant owner says he’s heading to court to try and fight getting kicked out. Either way, the days of the Regency Cinema are done, but the Golden Corral may be facing a rocky road to Sacramento.

scottfavareille
scottfavareille on March 5, 2008 at 4:35 pm

Looks like status should be changed to closed.

I believe this was the last (former Pussycat) adult theater in Northern CA. The Sunset in Hollywood was the last (former Pussycat) adult theater to close there. (It has been demolished since.)

JayAllenSanford
JayAllenSanford on August 8, 2008 at 7:30 am

New book-length Pussycat Theatre history from the San Diego Reader:
View link

Trolleyguy
Trolleyguy on December 19, 2008 at 6:11 am

Status should be changed to closed/demolished.

This theater is being torn down and will be replaced by a family buffet restaurant. http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1485689.html

rawkawesome
rawkawesome on January 3, 2009 at 2:47 pm

This theatre was torn down last month. There are pictures of the demolition here: View link

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on January 19, 2010 at 6:00 am

The start of construction on the Coronet Theatre was announced in Boxoffice of February 11, 1963. It was to be the first unit in a six acre commercial project planned by Comstock Developers. It was to be a first-run house, and would be operated under lease by A.J. Longtin, operator of theaters at Madera, Coalinga, and Willows, and former operator of the Guild and Encore theaters in Sacramento.

One of the partners in Comstock Developers was architect Herbert E. Goodpastor, designer of the Coronet. Goodpastor also designed the Manor and Colonial theaters in Sacramento.

Marklar
Marklar on July 18, 2013 at 4:15 pm

I only attended the Regency once in my life before it closed but I remember when I was a young teenager if we were in the area and drove by it I would always wonder how cool it would be to see porn on a big screen. So when I turned 18, circa 2001, me and a friend of mine had to go check this place out. I remember when we pulled up to the place you had to park around back, as soon as you drive around back there were suspect looking guys just kind of hanging out in the shadows. When you walked in there was a snack bar in the very front, we were making jokes about what kind of person buys Goobers and Mr. Pibb then watches a porno? The guy working there was a good guy, he gave us a little history of the place and even let us go into the theater for a little bit. Sadly the theater wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, it was just a DVD playing on a projector. At the time I didn’t realize porn hadn’t been made on 35 mm for years. This is when I learned the reality of what a porno theater really is, just a bunch of horny dudes sitting in a dark theater. Yes, I’m not going to lie-when me and my friend were 18 we thought the porno theater would be a good place to find easy ladies, when we told this to the guy working the snack bar/ticket booth he chuckled at us and told us we were in the wrong place. After this we purchased some shrink wrapped “porno magazines” that ended up being swingers catalogs full of some of the most unattractive people you would ever see. There was a time in my early teens when my hormones were running wild the idea of a porno theater or a porno store was interesting but once I was 18 I had to see what these places were about and what I found was the people who hang out there can be disturbing and depressing.

rivest266
rivest266 on May 4, 2019 at 12:01 pm

This opened on November 22nd, 1963 as the Coronet theatre. Grand opening ad posted.

rivest266
rivest266 on May 5, 2019 at 9:59 am

Started to show adult movies on May 20th, 1976 and became the Pussycat theatre on August 6th, 1976. Grand opening ad posted.

8traxrule
8traxrule on April 27, 2023 at 8:05 pm

Golden Corral buffet now in its place.

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