Varsity Theatre
456 University Avenue,
Palo Alto,
CA
94301
456 University Avenue,
Palo Alto,
CA
94301
10 people
favorited this theater
The Varsity Theatre opened in 1927, replacing an earlier 1912 Varsity Theatre, which had been located further along University Avenue on the opposite side of the street of the current theattr.
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.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 34 comments)
The year given for this photo is 1986.
As I understand the theatre was doing fine financially but was shut down by the city because residents of a nearby retirement home continually complained of noise. Initially the restaurant seating in the courtyard was closed to placate them but it wasn’t enough, they demanded the entire theatre closed. Why retire in a downtown location if noise is that big a issue for you?
Indeed; how could an art theater, as this was in in its last years, possibly have been a noise problem? Were they showing all their films in Sensurround?
I am moving back to Palo Alto after being gone for 18 years (in Seattle, WA since 1993). I am so sadden on the closing of the Varsity Theater. I spent many wonderful hours there tru-out the ‘80’s & early '90’s. I will truly miss it so (I can’t take my wife, whom I meet in Seattle, there now). Fortunatly the Stanford is still there and the Camera’s seem to be doing well.
And who know’s with Border’s on the rock’s…just maybe we can get a group together (and a little helper money from fellow Stanford Alumi"s) to buy it back and return it to what it should be…a MOVIE THEATER!!!!
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.