Varsity Theatre
456 University Avenue,
Palo Alto,
CA
94301
456 University Avenue,
Palo Alto,
CA
94301
11 people
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The Varsity Theatre (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox West Coast Theatres, Peninsula Theatres Company
Architects: James Reid, Merritt Reid
Firms: Reid Brothers
Functions: Café
Styles: Mission Revival
Previous Names: Fox Varsity Theatre
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Aug 13, 2011 — Could Varsity rise again as a theater?
The Varsity Theatre opened on September 26, 1927 with Mary Astor in “Rose of the Golden West”. It was operated by the Peninsula Theatres Company chain. It replaced an earlier 1912 Varsity Theatre, which had been located further along University Avenue on the opposite side of the street of the current theatre.
After fifty years of showing first run movies, the Varsity Theatre switched to art house fare in 1987 and, sadly, closed in 1994.
A preservation effort was launched to save the historic theatre, but unfortunately it did not succeed.
After the sale, the theatre was converted into a retail outlet for the Borders booksellers chain. Due to its historical status, the theatre was left somewhat intact and could perhaps be reopened one day as a theatre. In March 2015 it was converted into a coffee house. It was announced in late-September 2024 that the cafe would be closing.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 31 comments)
Borders Books is going entirely out of business, starting a liquidation of all stores as early as this Friday. What will happen to this theatre then?
The January 22, 1927, issue of Building and Engineering News said that the contract had been awarded for the construction of a new theater on University Avenue between Waverley and Cowper streets in Palo Alto. The project had been designed by San Francisco architectural firm Reid Brothers.
Maybe they should move the “retirement” community to an under ground bunker where they can have “peace and quiet”. The the rest of us can get on with real life. Sometimes real life makes noise. OMG!
I have just seen a brief news item online from what seems to be a substantial source that the Varsity’s next use is to be an Apple Store. If it is to continue as a retail space, this does make a lot of sense. The Apple Stores I’ve seen either in person or in articles tend to be open and spacious, which a former theatre is. I don’t think we need to fret about this use of the building causing significant, if any, compromise to the surviving original interior features.
For an impressionable teen-ager, this was a one-of-a-kind theater. A sizeable courtyard was situated between the ticket booth and the theater building itself. Just the physical layout was a captivating first-time experience. Many high school dates were wrapped around this movie house in the early to mid-‘50’s; including “The High and the Mighty”. Very unhappy to have seen its demise.
The New Varsity did not close because of complaints of noise. The family owned business found it too hard $ to keep operating. And it changed hands in the 80s. Landmark Theaters then invested in major plex plans never to be fully realised. The owner of the building then brought in Borders.
I hope they re-open this nice theatre at some point, but at least most of it is still there and in use in some fashion.
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 628, the Varsity Theatre in Palo Alto, California, had a two manual, 7 rank Leathurby-Smith theatre pipe organ installed at some point. The book does not give a date or any further details on the instrument, and does not even say whether it was installed in the “old” (pre-1927) Varsity Theatre (probably, in my opinion), or the “new” (post-1927) Varsity Theatre (less likely, in my opinion).
Does anyone know what happened to this organ?
SAP launches tech cafe at historic Palo Alto theater. HanaHaus at Varsity Theatre prepares to serve up Blue Bottle Coffee to local innovators.
See http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2015/03/17/sap-launches-high-tech-cafe-at-historic-palo-alto-theater for more details.
Opened on September 27th, 1927.
Palo Alto’s co-working space HanaHaus, along with the attached Blue Bottle Coffee shop, are slated to permanently close after less than 10 years inside the historic Varsity Theatre.
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/bay-area-blue-bottle-closure-at-hanahaus-palo-alto-19778037.php