Building History

Another theatre, the Orpheus, opened at this location in 1920. It showed silent and sound motion pictures until in burned in a blaze on 11/29/1937. Rebuilding efforts were led by architect A.J. Hopper (d. 1957), who completed an updated theatre design, called the "Rafael Theatre," in 06/1938.

Building Notes

The Rafael Theatre appeared in the George Lucas movie, "American Graffitti."

Alteration

The Rafael Theatre was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, and closed for several years thereafter. In the mid-1990s, After the quake, the San Rafael Redevelopment Agency, headed by Jake Ours in 1996, purchased the theatre in order to reuse it as a site to exhibit the work of local filmmakers. The San Rafael Redevelopment Agency worked with the Film Institute of Northern California, a nonprofit group, to redesign the building. The Film Institute had plans to operate its offices in the theatre, and to call it the "Rafael Film Center." Ann Brebner chaired the Film Center project in 1996. J.D. Sullivan, Chairman of the Bank of Marin, led fund-raising efforts to raise $5 million for the theatre's renovation and alteration. A number of wealthy Marin County executives, such as Carol Bartz, President of Autodesk, Incorporated, contributed to the film center's renovation.

According to a 1996 article in the San Francisco Chronicle: "Besides restoring the main auditorium, there are plans for building two additional theaters and a sidewalk cafe. Workers recently drilled down the Rafael Theatre's floorboards to measure the depth of the building's foundation. Seismic retrofitting and new construction is scheduled to begin in June [1996], with the new film center expected to open in the fall of 1997. The downstairs portion of the existing theater will be restored as a 350-seat auditorium in the art deco style of the 1930s. A 125-seat theater reminiscent of the original days of silent films will be built on the second floor where the old balcony is situated. A new annex will be built next door to house a sidewalk bistro, office suites and a 90-seat futuristic theater that will include the latest multimedia and video conferencing tools." (See Jim Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle, "Faded Star Making Comeback," 01/01/1996, p. A1, A18.)

PCAD id: 22577