We knew it was coming, but we're still weren't ready when the news came down. SFist's beloved Coronet Theater is closing its doors forever this Sunday, in preparation for demolition by the owner of the property, The Institute on Aging.
We spoke to our friend Gary Meyer, owner of the Balboa Theater and SFist's go-to pundit on all things Movie Theater. He concedes that the economic pressures that impelled United Artists to divest themselves of this property (and apparently, they're on the way to ridding themselves of all of their San Francisco theaters) were inavoidable. He pointed out that it's impossible for UA to compete with the 800-lb gorilla of the Metroplex. He estimates that the Coronet has a weekly operating expense of $15-20,000, and, even though "we all like to have all this nostalgia and talk about how much we want to see movies in that kind of environment, but not enough of us put their money where their mouth is." (At which point we broke in "But we did!" Gary had to inform us that our occasional 10 bucks wasn't enough to keep the Coronet going.)
Coronet Photo from the Save Our Theaters (yes, the prop L people, but it's a nice picture) website
Speaking of nostalgia, did you know that the Coronet was home to the 2 night "sneak preview" (parent of the focus group, the sneak preview was an opportunity for filmmakers to test their film on a completely unprepared audience) of comedy classic Kentucky Fried Movie? Our man Gary had developed relationships with both the writers and director of the film, and was responsible for bringing the initial previews to the Coronet. In fact, Gary was instrumental in compelling them to edit parts of the film, based on an audio recording he made of audience reactions at the screening. This is just one of the zillions of great stories to come out of the Coronet, and one of the reasons that the destruction of this theater will be such a terrible loss to EssEff.
The greater issue, at this point, is what the new structure will do to the face of the Geary corridor. As we have covered in past posts, the design of the new Institute on Aging building is a point of contention for the neighborhood, as the current design has been described to us as "looking like a six-foot-tall wall".
We spoke to Howard Junker, editor of ZYZZYVA, "the journal of west coast writers & artists", and resident of the area suffering the greatest impact from the loss of the theater and subsequent construction of the new structure. He, too, admits that "as much as I'd love to have (the Coronet) there forever, economic realities are what they are." He says that Supervisor McGoldrick "is our man and is doing the best he can" (requests for comment from Supervisor McGoldrick's office were not responded to), but that "the City has kind of rolled over at the planning comission level on this one."
Howard also admits that the Coronet's not the most beautiful structure either, and describes it as "the monster we know and love". He feels that the Institute on Aging planners "don't live in the area, they don't care about the wind and shadows and what this massive building is going to do to destroy the neighborhood. And when we allow one neighborhood to be destroyed, others soon follow." Finally, he notes "I think the intentions of the Institute people are good -- taking care of our elderly is a good thing -- but do it at such an expense, and in such a way...it's just sad that their altruism and citizenship has such blinders on it, as if the ends justify the means."
So, this weeekend SFist is going to the Coronet to see the last movie ever shown there, Million Dollar Baby (which, incidentally, all began at ZYZZYVA), and we urge you to do the same.
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Oh man, thanks for the tip! I'm totally gonna take in one last movie there this weekend. So, so sad. I saw "Star Wars" and "Superman" there during their original runs--it was always the go-to theater for the big movies. I was even willing to pay more to sit in the "loge" when they were still charging extra for those rocking chair seats. The best movie-going experience of my life was also at the Coronet: "Aliens" on opening night. So many memories...what was that I was saying about San Francisco and it's lack of reverance for its old buildings again?
So what large, single screen movie theaters are left in the city? I'm not talking about old theaters that have been chopped into two or more screens, but good old fashioned movie theaters with balconies and everything...The Castro...the Metro...the Bridge...can that possibly be it? Am I missing any?
Meanwhile, the Alhambra is a GYM, for god's sake, and the Northpoint still sits there empty, for how many years now?
Oy vey. I just went by the Coronet tonight on the bus, and it was such a pleasure to see the neon sign intact. Do you know how expensive it is to get big work done in neon these days? Note that the Castro hasn't bothered to fix their marquee as lights have gone out.
What I find most despicable is that most of the eastside theaters are shut down, too. Look at Harry Reid's Mission Theater. I actually always gave credit to EssEff for having a sense of history, but now is not those times. The Fox in Oakland is another white elephant -- a little bit of money and that would be a premier showplace in the country. The Fox was the west coast stop on the Chitlin Circuit.
So, so sad. I feel for y'all westsiders. God bless the Coronet.
My favorite memory of The Coronet is seeing 'Showgirls' there opening night. The fact that I'd been drinking all day helped a lot!
I went to the ten o'clock showing last night — the movie was really good — and talked to a Coronet employee for a while afterwards. He said that it's still not definite that the theater will be closing in the next few days and they're hoping for a reprieve for at least a few months, so maybe we'll all be able to see Revenge of the Sith there after all.
Yeah--I went today and a theater guy said they'd be open until the end of the month. So not sure what the truth is! Regardless, it should be open past this Sunday. Don't let them catch you taking pictures inside the theater though! The movie was over and the credits had run, but some guy still came over and told me not to take any pictures. The hell?
We need help, the Coronet is not gone yet.
As part of the planning process for the new development it must go under environmetal review. One of the issues is the historical signifecance of the building Art Deco Moderne and another is how the theater was involved in the city's cultural history.We have a good chance to preserve it.
Write or email Michelle Misssenger at the state office of histoiral preservation,
m.missenger@ohp.parks.ca.gov.
This will help us in our efforts
Tanks, BobbyA