Ken Cinema
4061 Adams Avenue,
San Diego,
CA
92116
4061 Adams Avenue,
San Diego,
CA
92116
12 people
favorited this theater
The Ken Cinema was opened in 1947, designed by noted architect S. Charles Lee in Art Moderne style. It was restored in 1975 after being taken over by the Landmark chain as a showcase for foreign features.
It has since expanded to include independent films and restored classics. It is the only theater remaining in San Diego which still uses reel-to-reel carbon arc projectors.
The Ken is also host to FALL OUT, San Diego’s gay and lesbian film festival.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 42 comments)
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/y9ku5ca
I recently took a weekend trip to San Diego. While in San Diego I wanted to visited any historic theaters that were still left in the city. I was sadden to find out that Ken Cinema was the last single-screen theater in San Diego. of course I had to see film, “ Holy Rollers.” I am happy this theater at least remains.
A couple photos of the Ken Theatre.
View link
View link
Any interior photos?
Can’t make out that One-sheet!
Lots of photos, including a few interiors, here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.119571068065336.12520.117370998285343&type=1
Does anyone have any information on the Ken pre-1947 remodel? Did it actually show movies before then?
Pretty low ceiling in the auditorium!
Here’s a direct link to the photos posted on 8/19/11. (Thanks, Danny.)
Sorry, the date you have for the Ken’s inception is wrong. It may have been conflated with the construction date for San Diego’s Hillcrest Theater (later the Guild).
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/sep/14/ken-cinema-celebrates-100-years-film-not-its-100th/
One of the comments in the above link states that a resident “who has lived in Kensington since 1945, says he remembers only a vacant lot on the west half of the 4000-block of south side of Adams Avenue until the theater opened in 1947.”
Other local histories also support a 1947 opening, as does information passed to me by people who worked with the Ken’s Bob Berkum before his retirement in the early 1980s.
Just an update as well. They no longer use the carbon arcs or reel to reel. They have a nice 4K digital and a platter system with their 35mm.