Sutter Cinema 3
754 Plumas Street,
Yuba City,
CA
95993
754 Plumas Street,
Yuba City,
CA
95993
2 people
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A 2010 photo can be seen here. Looks like it’s time for me to go back and re-shoot…
For the last two years or so(probably longer) the Sutter Performing Arts Association has been raising money to restore this property and turn it into a Performing Arts Center for the community. The fundraising has done really well, and they have restored the marquee and opened the side shop as an art gallery to feature local artists. The theater is looking great from the outsides, but is still undergoing a lot of the inside renovations. The main screen room is going to hold a large stage for productions, while the two smaller screen rooms will become a black-box theater and a conference room. For more information, the Sutter Performing Arts Association has a website (www.suttertheater.org).
Slight detail correction to the owl story: I recently got clarification from Jack—The owls would come into the sign from the top, and nest in the space above the “S”, not actually in it. Careful examination of images of the sign would appear to confirm this.
Thanks Gary Cute story,now for the one with the Rats at the Imperial….LOL.
A little story from my friend (and theatre photo/memorabilia archivist) Jack Tillmany, onetime manager of the Sutter: When he was there, a family of owls had a habit of nesting each year in one side of the letter “S” on the vertical sign tower. As the baby owls were learning to fly, they would break the neon tubes when coming back in for a rather clumsy landing to the nest. Both sides of the letter were on the same circuit, so for a time each year, Jack was proud manager (at night, when the sign was lit) of the “UTTER” Theatre. There was no point in trying to repair the tubing until each year’s new family of owls was gone and the letter could be cleaned up. How long this yearly ritual of owl-rearing and repeated sign repairs lasted after Jack’s managerial departure for bigger and better theatres in the Bay Area is unknown.
Another thing: My friend, neon contractor Greg King, still has some new neon tubes which he had made for the Sutter some time ago to replace old missing tubes. The theatre either closed or changed hands before they could be installed. Anyway, perhaps they could finally be installed if the theatre is going to be revived. Please contact me if that’s the case, and I can put the parties concerned in touch with Greg!
Here are two photos from the 1980s:
Photo1
Photo2
Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of March 11, 1950, contained an item saying that the Sutter Theatre was nearly ready to open, and that the date would be either March 15 or March 21, depending on the timely completion of some remaining interior work.
This is an August 2008 photo of the Sutter Cinema.
Between Cinemark and North American, whose theatre is actually going to get built to replace this one?
Here is a May 8, 2007 article about the Sutter Theater closing.
Here is another photo of the Sutter Theater.
The Sutter Theater was closed down in December 2006 for fire, health and building code violations.
“Appeal-Democrat 12/16/2006
Byline: Kymm Mann
If you were planning to see “Happyness” or “The Santa Clause 3” this weekend, you might be disappointed. Numerous fire, health and building code violations led to the indefinite closing of the Sutter Theatre in Yuba City. Among the problems: Rat poison stored with candy; n Several collapsed ceilings and exposed wire and electrical boxes; n Infestations of rats and cockroaches throughout the facility.
Acting on an anonymous complaint about the Plumas Street theater, city and county officials inspected the building Thursday night and told the owners to shut the 55-year-old establishment immediately, Yuba City Fire Chief Marc Boomgaarden said Friday. “Our folks, in conjunction with the Yuba City Building Department and the Sutter County Health Department performed an inspection (Thursday) and found numerous fire, health and building code concerns of such a magnitude that we requested the business operator not do business with the public until those issues were resolved,” the chief said. Boomgaarden said the Building Department “yellow-tagged” the theater, meaning that only people working on repairs will be allowed in. Neither Boomgaarden nor co-owner Russ Clark had an estimate of when the theater may reopen.
“That’s under control of the business operators. They have to contract with someone to get the repairs done, so there’s no telling how long,” Boomgaarden said. The chief said that throughout the inspection Thursday night, all parties agreed about the closing. “The key here is, we have extremely cooperative business owners and cooperative theater operators who want it fixed,” he said. “This comes at sort of a rotten time with the holidays, but it is our duty to make sure the public is safe and healthy.” Clark and co-owner John Tuscano bought the theater about a year ago, Clark said. He said he has no idea what Theatrical Promotions of Santa Rosa, the theater operator, will do or how long repairs may take. Company representatives were not available for comment Friday. “They sold us the building and lease, but they maintain it and do all repairs, so John and I can’t do anything about it,” Clark said. “We hope for their employees they get it opened quickly. If not, it stays locked until further notice.”
Don Covey, president of Yuba City’s Downtown Business Association, said the theater attracts traffic down Plumas Street, which could have some impact on nearby merchants. “They’ve had success in bringing in some first-run movies, so it’s a venue of traffic that is closed,” Covey said. “It also provides an entertainment venue that’s closed to the community, and that will shift to Movies 8 or even Colusa, so it certainly does make an impact on the downtown area. I don’t think it would cripple the businesses, but there will be some loss, I’m sure.”
The association has known the theater was in disrepair “for some time,” Covey said, and that people have complained about the conditions.
“We kind of let it go because we’ve been trying to get a new theater built,” he said, referring to the Roxy, which is planned at Bridge and Shasta streets. “I think the positive aspect is, maybe this will either cause the operators to bring it up to the kind of building it should be, or push ahead with the new theater.” Appeal-Democrat reporter Kymm Mann can be reached at 749-4707. or ".
This is a modern photo of the Sutter Theater.
1951:
View link
The original seating capacity for the Sutter Theatre was 916, as given in Film Daily Yearbook;1952 edition (It’s not in the 1950 edition).
From the UCLA Digital Archive:
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Seth, did you photograph the Yuba City theater?
Where is the ticket booth, in the center, or off to once side?
Seating for this theater is listed as 175+175+350 for a total of 700 seats.