Thanks for your photos Will— they are fabulous! Wish we could get them substituted for the photo at the top of this page.

Re: Curtain from the Alameda Business Update 10/25/2010:
The Theatre’s original, elaborately handpainted
screen curtains were central to its
design when it opened in the 1930’s.
Eventually, the right-hand stage curtain fell
into disrepair, sustaining irreparable water
damage. When the Restoration Project began
in 2000, replacement fabric was used to
complete the curtain.
This year, the City and Alameda
Entertainment Associates’ Kyle Conner began
a search for the right fabric – and the right
artist – to recreate the lost curtain piece.
Among several candidates for the job, Bay
Area artist Beate Bruhl was chosen to copy the
fabric’s intricate design and paint it onto new
fabric. Ms. Bruhl had worked with the crew to
gold-leaf the Theatre during its 2008
See Theatre

Curtain continued:
restoration and was well acquainted with
its needs. She had soon prepared a
stencil of the design to be transferred
onto new fabric.
Theatre operator Conner collaborated
with local upholsterer Jimmy Luque to
find the perfect curtain fabric,
eventually selecting Turkish velvet.
After Ms. Bruhl creates a newly painted
curtain panel and it is attached to the
existing curtain, the curtain will be back
to itself again.
To learn more about the historic
Alameda Theatre, visit
http://www.ci.alameda.ca.us/theater/

The restoration of the original Alameda Theatre to a single screen and the addition of seven additional screens was designed by the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Theircinema projects slide show includes four photos of the Alameda Cinema.

A few 2011 photos can be seenhere andhere.

I believe this is the theater where my mother was employed as an “usherette” when Gone With The Wind" came out. I am so happy to know that this wonderful theater has been restored! I remember red velvet everywhere and gold embellishments. I can almost smell the popcorn when I see these lovely pictures. Thank you so much!

I’m happy to say, as the Alameda Theatre and Cineplex nears its 6th anniversary (in May of this year), the theatre couldn’t be in better shape. I visited this site today for the first time in years. Looking back at all the comments, I had to laugh out loud when I read the remarks of the nay sayers who posted on this site. They all seem so trivial and petty in light of the great success of the project.

All eight screens now feature digital projection and state of the art sound. Seeing a movie, especially in the original main theatre, is a treat. By the way, the popcorn with butter is fantasitc.

The theatre is ramping up for their classic film series. To see the schedule go to shopparkstreet.com which will lead you to the theatre’s web site. They have a numbe of great movies lined up.

Enjoy the movies.

Best Regards,
Robb Ratto
Executive Director
Park Street Business Association

Grand opening ad:

Alameda Theatre opening Tue, Aug 16, 1932 – Page 10 ·Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Newspapers.com

Reopened with three screens on March 12th, 1975. Ad in photo section.

The theater was designed by architect Timothy Pflueger who also designed the Alhambra and the Castro in San Francisco; and the Paramount in Oakland. The Alameda was built in 14 months at a cost of $500,000.