El Rey Theatre
1970 Ocean Avenue,
San Francisco,
CA
94127
1970 Ocean Avenue,
San Francisco,
CA
94127
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Golden State Theater & Realty Corp.
Architects: Timothy L. Pflueger
Functions: Church
Styles: Spanish Colonial, Streamline Moderne
Nearby Theaters
The El Rey Theatre was opened on November 14, 1931 with “The Smiling Lieutenant”, starring Maurice Chevalier.
Designed by Timothy L. Pfleuger, who is best known for his work on the Paramount Theatre in Oakland and the Castro Theatre, San Francisco. Following closure as a movie theatre on April 1, 1977 the El Rey Theatre became a church. The church vacated the building in 2015 following bankruptcy.
It was sold to developers in 2017 for $1.06 million. Plans are to restore the theatre and construct 42 condominiums on top of the adjoining retail units. In September 2025 the building was sold to a church, with plans to reopen at Easter 2027. They also hope to screen classic movies.
The El Rey Theatre was designated a Landmark building in July 2017.
Contributed by
Juan-Miguel Gallegos
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
Interior and exterior photos on this site:
http://tinyurl.com/8nhfnq
There were retail spaces in this building on both sides of the entrance to the theater. In 1969 The Gap opened its first store in the easternmost retail space just to the right of the theater entrance at the corner of Ocean Ave and Fairfield Way. A picture is here:
http://www.gapinc.com/public/About/about.shtml
You can see a portion the theater’s tower in the background.
Back in the early seventies, a friend and I saw a “Planet of the Apes” marathon there.
@lostmemory thanks for posting the 1970 photo. I remember seeing B&C&Ted&Alice at the El Rey at that time. It was a beautiful theater. I also remember seeing “Bikini Beach” there in 1964. The stars John Ashley, Mary Hughes and Candy Johnson were in the lobby signing autographed publicity photos. Wish I still had them.
From this morning’s SF Chronicle. The link to the article is below.
“The buyer was a joint venture between Ricci Ventures and Green Point Land Co., both Marin investment groups. Plans for the building are not yet firm. Project architect John Goldman said the overriding goal is to restore the tower and theater to their original splendor. He said the owners would like to lease it to a theater group and have reached out to San Francisco State University and City College of San Francisco, both nearby. Neither institution has expressed interest to date. Goldman described himself as a longtime Pflueger buff and former board member of the Art Deco Society of California. He said the owners have to figure out a way to make the venture profitable, but that they are committed to rehabbing its historic fabric. “If anyone is worried about my respecting the building — don’t be,” he said. “I love the building. The owners love the building. And we’re going to do right by the building. My goal is to figure out how to restore it.”
El Rey
2 ½ years later….
“As envisioned, the existing facade of the theater and its commercial spaces would be restored along with the theater space itself and lobby, using a recovered set of Timothy Pflueger’s original construction documents for direction.
El Rey
Outsidelands.org El Rey page here.
Passed by the El Rey, it is looking really nice. No one around as I wanted to get inside. Will try again to take some pictures, found my El Rey calendar from the 70’s and posted a photo of it. Great theater, looking forward to the reopening.
A new buyer has purchased the El Rey. The Father’s House, a non denominational church will be moving in. Their plan is to open it at Easter in 2027. They say they will host occasional classic film screenings.
El Rey
I’ll believe that when I see it. A shame that churches continue to take this over and no money coming in for the arts.
And from the Archbishop Riordan High School Newspaper, The Crusader, the 2027 re-opening is on track “t is known for its extreme height and is located on Ocean Avenue on the Ingleside neighborhood in San Francisco. The theatre has been empty since 2016 and is about to witness a huge change. The building was bought by a church organization known as The Fathers House SF. The cost of the purchase was not stated.
The group is hoping to eventually reopen the building by 2027 while also creating a large refurbishment of the building itself, and giving to the community by turning part of the building into a community center. "
Link below includes image of signage by theatre’s entrance…
https://rcrusadernews.com/19605/news/sf-church-buys-vintage-el-rey-theatre/