I checked George King in Berkeley building permits and city directories. He was actually George F. King and designed quite a number of buildings—both residential and commercial—in Berkeley.
I checked George King in Berkeley building permits and city directories. He was actually George F. King and designed quite a number of buildings—both residential and commercial—in Berkeley.
Joe Vogel, the Alameda Theater was designed by George E. King, according to the Oakland Tribune of 21 July 1912. I uploaded an image of the article to the Rialto Theater page.
An article in the Oakland Tribune of 21 July 1912, page 28, displayed a sketch of the theater’s façade and provided this info about the architect:
“The architect, George E. King of Berkeley, who recently came from New York, where he designed and built several theaters, is a specialist in theater building.”
Joe Vogel, I found no way to edit my previous comment, so I had no choice but to delete it and start over.
In answer to your questions, the Berkeley Historical Plaque Project usually obtains its information from the landmark application submitted to the Landmarks Preservation Commission when a building is nominated. As it happens, many of these landmark applications were written decades ago, when research materials were not as readily available as they are now, and therefore contain basic errors. The Strand Theater is the fifth such case I discovered in the course of my research. I’ve initiated a discussion with the City to develop a procedure for correcting such errors.
The building permits we have at the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) are scans of microfilms that the City of Berkeley made many years ago from the actual paper permits. We salvaged the microfilms when the City disposed of them, and they’re an invaluable resource.
Permit #3865, issued on 20 June 1914, lists William Dufour as the designer of the Strand Theater and D.M Etter as the builder. Both shared the same business address, which happened to be Dufour’s real estate office at 2326 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Strand was not designed by Albert W. Cornelius. The building permit pulled on 20 June 1914 listed William Dufour as the architect, although Dufour was a realtor and sometime contractor. He probably farmed out the design, although most likely not to a well-known architect like Cornelius.
Nor was Alexander Aimwell Cantin the sole remodeling architect. The 1946 alteration permit lists his son, A. Mackenzie Cantin, as well as the father, as architect.
Information about the Cantins is available here: https://archives.ced.berkeley.edu/collections/cantin-alexander-mackenzie
There was no earlier theater across the street. There was one on the same block (3324 Adeline) that was owned by Daniel Knapp and lasted only a brief time. It was listed in the city directory only in 1909 and was probably located in a storefront. As soon as it closed, William Krahn built his new cinema.
According to building permits in the BAHA archives, the first Lorin Theater at 3330 Adeline Street was built for William F. Krahn by contractor Abel Roust in 1909. The following year (1910), Krahn took out a building permit for new construction at 3332 Adeline. The contractor again was Abel Roust, but this time he was also listed as designer.
Roust was also the contractor for a major remodel (with a permit for new construction) undertaken by Beach & Krahn and designed by Hiram K. Lovell in 1914. It’s possible that this construction was delayed. A July 1916 article in The Moving Picture World mentions that the theatre closed “last March,” which could be March 1915 or March 1916, although the latter is more plausible. http://bit.ly/14iEUmF
The next major remodel took place in 1920, with James Plachek (not mentioned in the permit) as architect and Charles D. Vezey as contractor. Then came the 1931 remodel with Alfred J. Hopper as contractor, followed by a 1935 remodel by Willis F. Lynn.
Three building permits were taken out in the 1940s, after the theater was acquired by Golden State Theaters, but they appear to have been of a service nature (i.e., roofing, etc.).
The news that West Coast Theaters acquired the T & D chain first appeared in the Oakland Tribune on 20 March 1913:
“For a consideration of $1,675,000 the West Coast Theaters, Inc., a Southern California concern in which Sol Lesser, the Gore brothers, Adolph Ramish and Joseph Schenck are interested, took over the T. & D. holdings from Mrs. Hattie Turner, widow of James Turner, and Fred Dahnken, founders of the circuit.”
The T&D Theatre was renamed the California later than April 1923. It was still advertised as the T & D on 30 June 1923. By the beginning of October, it was the California.
The Redwood Theater was built in 1933 at a cost of $70,000 for former San Francisco theater exhibitor Phil A. Frease. The architect was WIlliam I. Garren. Frease co-owned the cinema with O.H. Watson. In 1936, Frease died of a heart attack, and Fox West Coast, owner of the Sequoia Theater, took an option on the Redwood.
This cinema opened as the Majestic Theatre, as listed in the 1915 Berkeley city directory. The address was “s side Durant av bet Telegraph av and Bowditch.”
The architect was Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. (not Ratcliffe). The original owners, J. Arthur Elston and George Clark, were law partners who built (and resided in) the adjacent Cambridge Apartments, also designed by Ratcliff.
When the cinema was acquired by the Campus Motion Picture Company, the name was changed to Campus Theater.
See “Telegraph & Durant: from ritzy enclave to commercial hub”:
http://berkeleyheritage.com/eastbay_then-now/telegraph-durant.html
http://berkeleyheritage.com/eastbay_then-now/campus_theaters.html
I checked George King in Berkeley building permits and city directories. He was actually George F. King and designed quite a number of buildings—both residential and commercial—in Berkeley.
I checked George King in Berkeley building permits and city directories. He was actually George F. King and designed quite a number of buildings—both residential and commercial—in Berkeley.
Joe Vogel, the Alameda Theater was designed by George E. King, according to the Oakland Tribune of 21 July 1912. I uploaded an image of the article to the Rialto Theater page.
An article in the Oakland Tribune of 21 July 1912, page 28, displayed a sketch of the theater’s façade and provided this info about the architect:
“The architect, George E. King of Berkeley, who recently came from New York, where he designed and built several theaters, is a specialist in theater building.”
I neglected to say that D.M. Etter filled out the permit application and signed it.
Joe Vogel, I found no way to edit my previous comment, so I had no choice but to delete it and start over.
In answer to your questions, the Berkeley Historical Plaque Project usually obtains its information from the landmark application submitted to the Landmarks Preservation Commission when a building is nominated. As it happens, many of these landmark applications were written decades ago, when research materials were not as readily available as they are now, and therefore contain basic errors. The Strand Theater is the fifth such case I discovered in the course of my research. I’ve initiated a discussion with the City to develop a procedure for correcting such errors.
The building permits we have at the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) are scans of microfilms that the City of Berkeley made many years ago from the actual paper permits. We salvaged the microfilms when the City disposed of them, and they’re an invaluable resource.
Permit #3865, issued on 20 June 1914, lists William Dufour as the designer of the Strand Theater and D.M Etter as the builder. Both shared the same business address, which happened to be Dufour’s real estate office at 2326 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Strand was not designed by Albert W. Cornelius. The building permit pulled on 20 June 1914 listed William Dufour as the architect, although Dufour was a realtor and sometime contractor. He probably farmed out the design, although most likely not to a well-known architect like Cornelius.
Nor was Alexander Aimwell Cantin the sole remodeling architect. The 1946 alteration permit lists his son, A. Mackenzie Cantin, as well as the father, as architect.
Information about the Cantins is available here: https://archives.ced.berkeley.edu/collections/cantin-alexander-mackenzie
Albert W. Cornelius had nothing to do with this theater.
Photo courtesy of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association
Photo courtesy of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association
There was no earlier theater across the street. There was one on the same block (3324 Adeline) that was owned by Daniel Knapp and lasted only a brief time. It was listed in the city directory only in 1909 and was probably located in a storefront. As soon as it closed, William Krahn built his new cinema.
According to building permits in the BAHA archives, the first Lorin Theater at 3330 Adeline Street was built for William F. Krahn by contractor Abel Roust in 1909. The following year (1910), Krahn took out a building permit for new construction at 3332 Adeline. The contractor again was Abel Roust, but this time he was also listed as designer.
Roust was also the contractor for a major remodel (with a permit for new construction) undertaken by Beach & Krahn and designed by Hiram K. Lovell in 1914. It’s possible that this construction was delayed. A July 1916 article in The Moving Picture World mentions that the theatre closed “last March,” which could be March 1915 or March 1916, although the latter is more plausible. http://bit.ly/14iEUmF
The next major remodel took place in 1920, with James Plachek (not mentioned in the permit) as architect and Charles D. Vezey as contractor. Then came the 1931 remodel with Alfred J. Hopper as contractor, followed by a 1935 remodel by Willis F. Lynn.
Three building permits were taken out in the 1940s, after the theater was acquired by Golden State Theaters, but they appear to have been of a service nature (i.e., roofing, etc.).
The news that West Coast Theaters acquired the T & D chain first appeared in the Oakland Tribune on 20 March 1913:
“For a consideration of $1,675,000 the West Coast Theaters, Inc., a Southern California concern in which Sol Lesser, the Gore brothers, Adolph Ramish and Joseph Schenck are interested, took over the T. & D. holdings from Mrs. Hattie Turner, widow of James Turner, and Fred Dahnken, founders of the circuit.”
The T&D Theatre was renamed the California later than April 1923. It was still advertised as the T & D on 30 June 1923. By the beginning of October, it was the California.
This theatre was built in 1913, not in 1920.
Year: 1913 Building permit #: 3418 Address: 2115 Kittredge Street Owners: Turner & Dahnken Architect: A.W. Cornelius Contractor: Kidder & McCullough
The Redwood Theater was built in 1933 at a cost of $70,000 for former San Francisco theater exhibitor Phil A. Frease. The architect was WIlliam I. Garren. Frease co-owned the cinema with O.H. Watson. In 1936, Frease died of a heart attack, and Fox West Coast, owner of the Sequoia Theater, took an option on the Redwood.
The correct name for this listing should be either Majestic Theatre (later name: Campus Theater) or Campus Theater (previous name: Majestic Theatre).
This cinema opened as the Majestic Theatre, as listed in the 1915 Berkeley city directory. The address was “s side Durant av bet Telegraph av and Bowditch.”
The architect was Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. (not Ratcliffe). The original owners, J. Arthur Elston and George Clark, were law partners who built (and resided in) the adjacent Cambridge Apartments, also designed by Ratcliff.
When the cinema was acquired by the Campus Motion Picture Company, the name was changed to Campus Theater.
See “Telegraph & Durant: from ritzy enclave to commercial hub”: http://berkeleyheritage.com/eastbay_then-now/telegraph-durant.html