Our friends over at SocketSite alerted us to a Sunday Examiner story regarding the fate of yet another of our besieged local movie theaters. The former Marina Theater (most recently known as Cinema 21) closed in October 2001. Nearly 1000 residents expressed dismay at plans to convert the space into a Walgreens, but an apparent compromise has been reached between the property owner, the Marina Merchants Association and the Neighborhood Theater Foundation.

According to the Examiner piece, the plan to build the Walgreens remains, and the theater will actually be built on the floor above it. The entire interior will be remodeled while the exterior will be restored. Frank Lee, operator of the 4-Star, the Presidio, and the revived Cinema 21 is paraphrased as saying "the key is to have more than one screen and to pick films Marina residents will flock to", which makes it safe to assume that the internal renovation will lead to a dramatic reduction in screen size.

SFist Rain makes a great point (scroll down to the comments) on this type of survival mechanism for our local theaters. The trade-off for the continued existence of these local theaters seems to be segmentation of their once grand auditoriums. The new theater and Walgreens (it's like they're begging you to smuggle drugstore candy into the theater, isn't it?) are expected to open towards the end of 2006.