The New Mission Theater, once the grande dame of Mission Street's
theater row, closes for business in 1993. A retail furniture establishment
subsequently moves into the former lobby. City College of San
Francisco buys the property, and the adjacent retail store, to
develop as a new campus, in 1998.
Community activists, alerted to continuing plans to build a campus
on the site without the inclusion of more than token remains of
the theater, attend a planning meeting at the current Mission
campus, September 2000. When they attend a second meeting in October,
they are asked to leave.
In November, the group holds a meeting with college officials
and architects Kendall Young/Cervantes in which they review preliminary
plans for the site, featuring only the blade sign of the historic
building. No other nod to preservation is included.
A public meeting is held at Horace Mann School to discuss the
issues on January 10, 2001. The meeting became an attack
on those who wanted to save the theater as anti-education racists.
Ken Garcia of the San Francisco Chronicle writes an article on
January 13, 2001, "Compromise
Called for on Movie House: College Could Easily Keep Part of Old
New Mission." The same month, San Francisco Architectural
Heritage nominates the New Mission Theater for inclusion on the
National Register of Historic Places.
Throughout 2000 and 2001, the City College administration continues
to foster the either/or myth of education or preservation, while
neighborhood activists work to formulate solutions to the conflict.
In February 2001, the Save-New-Mission group is awarded a grant
from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in order to
work with a preservation architect to study the space for adaptive
reuse. A fund-raiser to match the grant with private contributions
is held the same month. Architect Alice Carey of Carey and Company
agrees to formulate a plan for adaptive reuse for the theater.
Also in February, the theater is nominated for inclusion in the
list of the National Trust's Eleven Most Endangered Sites.
City College also addresses preservation plans, with the aid of
another San Francisco architect who specializes in preservation.
The study results in three different plans, two of which still
demolish most of the theater.
The Rules Committee of the Board of Supervisors hears the matter
at City Hall on April 12, 2001. Supervisor Matt Gonzalez
encourages City College to work toward a solution that will respect
all points of view. The Chancellor goes on record to say that
the college will work with the preservation group. He also states
that preservation efforts have not and will not cause delays in
the planning and building of the Mission campus.
In June, the National Trust for Historic Preservation declares
single-screen theaters nationwide as a building type to be included
in their list of Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places. There
is special mention of the historic theaters of San Francisco.
The San Francisco Landmarks Advisory Board votes to find the nomination
submitted by San Francisco Architectural Heritage worthy for submission
to the State Office of Historic Preservation, July 18, 2001,
but a quorum is subsequently deemed to have been lacking. City
College and its supporters vocally oppose the nomination, and
object to the July Landmarks Board procedure. When the San Francisco
Landmarks Advisory Board reconvenes with a larger attendance,
it votes to have no opinion on the matter, August 2001.
The California Office of Historic Preservation recommends unanimously
that the theater be placed on the National Register of Historic
Places, August 3, 2001.
The college administration and board are presented preservation
alternatives, such as the cost-effective alternative proposed
by the activists and Carey and Company, with the support of the
National Trust. This plan includes virtually all of the theater
in an adaptive reuse, while meeting the programmatic needs of
the campus.
City College dismisses the alternative plans as too expensive,
and instead choses to relocate the planned campus and to sell
the New Mission Theater and its adjacent property.
At a December 3, 2003 hearing. CCSF Board rejects the offers
of both Cullinane & Long and the Pacific Institute, in
favor of Gus Murad & Associates.
On February 4, 2004, the Landmarks Board votes to support a
landmark resolution adding a recommendation that final action
on the landmarking of the New Mission Theater be postponed while
questions of ownership and plans for the building are resolved.
On March 3, 2004, the Landmarks Board re-hears the landmark resolution
and votes unanimously in support. The following day, the Planning
Commission echoes this decision with a unanimous vote for landmarking.
On May 18, 2004, the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance
designating 2550 Mission Street, the New Mission Theater as Landmark
No. 245.
The Landmarks Board meet on October 11, 2006 to view owner Gus Murad's proposal to rennovate and restore the New Mission Theater, making it into a theater-nightclub-restaurant venue, with the adjacent Giant Value property being converted to commercial space on the street level and residential above. |