New Mission Theater
2550 Mission Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94110
2550 Mission Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94110
11 people
favorited this theater
Built in 1916 and originally designed by the Reid Brothers, the over 2,000-seat movie palace was renovated for the Nasser Brothers circuit in 1932 by Timothy Pflueger, who transformed it into an Art Deco style wonderland. The theater also has a 70 foot marquee that is a local landmark.
Recently, the City College of San Francisco decided it wished to raze much of the former movie palace and build new campus facilities inside the theater’s shell. A local group called ‘Save The New Mission Theater’, who believes much of the theater can be retained while still achieving the school’s goals, stepped in to stop CCSF from executing its plans.
Thankfully, CCSF has begun to listen to local architects and preservationists, who are busy trying to propose a compromise that would suit both parties. While nothing is final, the theater may yet be saved.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 47 comments)
1930 Photo
1982 Photo
1986 Photo
1986 Night Photo
Back in the late 1990’s, I attended a meeting about trying to save and (hopefully) restore the New Mission along with a lot of hype about City College possibly taking over the premises for their theatrical programs.
Can someone of authority please fill in the blanks about the future of this venerable theater?
As to the above article from GERMAINE ROGERS on Mar 20, 2007 about his impressive collection of Box Office Reports, etc., saved from the New Mission, Castro, Royal, Alhambra, these theaters (and others) were under the direction of Blumenfeld Enterprises.
As a former Castro doorman I suggest he contact Don Nasser who heads the Castro’s Board of Directors and ask him if he would like part of them for their historical records or to display them in the lobby with “The Castro Past”.
There has been very little news about the New Mission for nearly four years; there has not been an update in the SF Neighborhood Theaters Foundation site (http://www.sfneighborhoodtheater.org/) for quite some time and there isn’t much more on the www.friendsof1800.org site either, both of which were actively watching for news and reporting developments up until, oh, about 2005 or so. Apparently City College dropped plans to recycle the site for its uses. There was a proposal to convert the theater into a restaurant/nightclub/performance space that would preserve some of the theater’s architectural features, and there was a report that the condos that were to be built adjacent to the theater were going to be taller than originally proposed. I did find this item from March 10 of this year: View link
Photo of the New Mission Theatre.
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The a nice (but quick) shot of the vertical blade and dilapidated marquee near the beginning of the new movie “La Mission,” now in limited release in theaters.
2009 photo of the New Mission Theatre.
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An earlier Mission Theatre was operating in San Francisco in 1907. Did the New Mission replace it? The earlier Mission was listed in an ad for the architectural firm O'Brien & Werner in the 1907-1908 edition of Henry’s Official Western Theatrical Guide. The Mission was one of five O'Brien & Werner designed houses listed in the ad. The others were the Orpheum, Princess, Valencia Street, and 16th Street theaters.
More Debate swirls around the New Mission theatre and a subsquent housing development to build next door.
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I’ve posted some recent photos here.
I drove down Mission Street last month when I went to the 49ers-Eagles game. I didn’t realize that all the theaters on this street were so close together. Must have been spectacular in its time.