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Most Drive In Movies shut down, now they are closing down this theatre....
Classic Movie Palace To Close
UC Theatre killed by seismic costs
Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 27, 2001
The venerable UC Theatre -- a beloved art-movie landmark in downtown Berkeley that nearly closed in September -- is closing its doors this week, according to its operator.
Staggering under unpaid bills and an apparent decline in public appetite for films outside the Hollywood mainstream, the 84-year-old institution will shut down after the last show Thursday, said Mike Mullen, a senior vice president for Dallas-based Silver Cinemas Inc., parent company of the Landmark Theatres chain that operates UC Theatre.
Film fans and Berkeley officials were stunned in September when the operator said it might close the theater then. Landmark said it could not afford nearly $300,000 in seismic retrofitting expenses, and that's now the main reason it will cease operations, Mullen said.
Gary Meyer, a Landmark co-founder who opened the UC Theatre in its current incarnation in 1976 and left the company four years ago, called it "a sad day for film lovers and especially for me, as that is the place we started Landmark Theatres."
Landmark, which bills itself as "the nation's largest art-house chain," now operates 53 theaters nationwide but has fallen on hard times. Silver Cinemas, the parent company, declared bankruptcy in May and is for sale.
But Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean, instead of bemoaning the loss of the historic theater and its centerpiece role in Berkeley's downtown nightlife, said yesterday she might be able to throw it a lifeline.
"I'm working on a plan to keep it open and to renovate it," she said, adding that she did want to divulge details. She said she hoped to make an announcement "in the next couple of days."
The 1,300-seat former Nickelodeon at 2036 University Ave. has been a legendary venue for an eclectic mix of foreign and art films, classics, animation, special festivals and midnight showings of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," which ended a 22-year run in 1998.
According to Landmark, the cavernous movie house has been suffering from low attendance and was only "marginally profitable" before the large seismic bill.
The company's problems started taking their toll on programming last fall, when it switched from the former repertory schedule of films changing every day or every few days to mostly week-long runs.
The current one-week format of UC programming now will be switched to one of the 10 screens at the Landmark-owned Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley, but the movie selection will be "primarily new first-run films," said Mike McClellan, a Landmark vice president.
The desire to find a new operator for the theater appeared strong yesterday,
but the means were not apparent, especially if Landmark, as expected, removes all the equipment.
Meyer, who explored a rescue of the UC Theatre last year and who took over the Balboa Theater in San Francisco a few weeks ago, said, "Any number of people have called me, saying, 'Are you going to save it? Are you going to save it?' "
His answer: "I can only say I don't know."
It's very hard these days to fill such a large house for repertory films. "Repertory is dead," he said. "It's not something that's going to revive itself."
Still, he said Berkeley's breed of film-goers keeps two other repertory houses, the Pacific Film Archive and Fine Arts Cinema, operating. And a new operator may be able to revive the UC Theatre if the equipment stays in place or if investors come forward with "hundreds of thousands of dollars."
The theater building is owned by UC Studios, a partnership of three people who say they want the theater to continue.
One of the partners, Igal Sarfaty, said that the seismic work had been completed and that Landmark still owed its share. The lease requires the theater operator to pay half.
Sarfaty said the theater had paid its rent through the end of this month, and had not given notice that it would be leaving. Mullen said such notice would be given.
Landmark Theatres, the nation's largest art-house chain, features first-run independent and foreign films, restored classics and non-traditional studio fare in 57 theatres representing 208 screens in 14 states and the District of Columbia. In exhibiting indie hits such as Garden State, Monster, The Pianist, Memento, Fast Runner, Monsoon Wedding, Bowling for Columbine, The Blair Witch Project, Run Lola Run and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Landmark has never veered from its commitment to present cutting edge entertainment or shied away from controversial films, such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Y Tu Mamá También, Kids, Romance or The Last Temptation of Christ.
Classic Movie Palace To Close
UC Theatre killed by seismic costs
Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 27, 2001
The venerable UC Theatre -- a beloved art-movie landmark in downtown Berkeley that nearly closed in September -- is closing its doors this week, according to its operator.
Staggering under unpaid bills and an apparent decline in public appetite for films outside the Hollywood mainstream, the 84-year-old institution will shut down after the last show Thursday, said Mike Mullen, a senior vice president for Dallas-based Silver Cinemas Inc., parent company of the Landmark Theatres chain that operates UC Theatre.
Film fans and Berkeley officials were stunned in September when the operator said it might close the theater then. Landmark said it could not afford nearly $300,000 in seismic retrofitting expenses, and that's now the main reason it will cease operations, Mullen said.
Gary Meyer, a Landmark co-founder who opened the UC Theatre in its current incarnation in 1976 and left the company four years ago, called it "a sad day for film lovers and especially for me, as that is the place we started Landmark Theatres."
Landmark, which bills itself as "the nation's largest art-house chain," now operates 53 theaters nationwide but has fallen on hard times. Silver Cinemas, the parent company, declared bankruptcy in May and is for sale.
But Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean, instead of bemoaning the loss of the historic theater and its centerpiece role in Berkeley's downtown nightlife, said yesterday she might be able to throw it a lifeline.
"I'm working on a plan to keep it open and to renovate it," she said, adding that she did want to divulge details. She said she hoped to make an announcement "in the next couple of days."
The 1,300-seat former Nickelodeon at 2036 University Ave. has been a legendary venue for an eclectic mix of foreign and art films, classics, animation, special festivals and midnight showings of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," which ended a 22-year run in 1998.
According to Landmark, the cavernous movie house has been suffering from low attendance and was only "marginally profitable" before the large seismic bill.
The company's problems started taking their toll on programming last fall, when it switched from the former repertory schedule of films changing every day or every few days to mostly week-long runs.
The current one-week format of UC programming now will be switched to one of the 10 screens at the Landmark-owned Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley, but the movie selection will be "primarily new first-run films," said Mike McClellan, a Landmark vice president.
The desire to find a new operator for the theater appeared strong yesterday,
but the means were not apparent, especially if Landmark, as expected, removes all the equipment.
Meyer, who explored a rescue of the UC Theatre last year and who took over the Balboa Theater in San Francisco a few weeks ago, said, "Any number of people have called me, saying, 'Are you going to save it? Are you going to save it?' "
His answer: "I can only say I don't know."
It's very hard these days to fill such a large house for repertory films. "Repertory is dead," he said. "It's not something that's going to revive itself."
Still, he said Berkeley's breed of film-goers keeps two other repertory houses, the Pacific Film Archive and Fine Arts Cinema, operating. And a new operator may be able to revive the UC Theatre if the equipment stays in place or if investors come forward with "hundreds of thousands of dollars."
The theater building is owned by UC Studios, a partnership of three people who say they want the theater to continue.
One of the partners, Igal Sarfaty, said that the seismic work had been completed and that Landmark still owed its share. The lease requires the theater operator to pay half.
Sarfaty said the theater had paid its rent through the end of this month, and had not given notice that it would be leaving. Mullen said such notice would be given.
Landmark Theatres, the nation's largest art-house chain, features first-run independent and foreign films, restored classics and non-traditional studio fare in 57 theatres representing 208 screens in 14 states and the District of Columbia. In exhibiting indie hits such as Garden State, Monster, The Pianist, Memento, Fast Runner, Monsoon Wedding, Bowling for Columbine, The Blair Witch Project, Run Lola Run and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Landmark has never veered from its commitment to present cutting edge entertainment or shied away from controversial films, such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Y Tu Mamá También, Kids, Romance or The Last Temptation of Christ.
