Strand Theater
1318 Park Street,
Alameda,
CA
94501
1318 Park Street,
Alameda,
CA
94501
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Nasser Bros. Theaters, T & D Jr. Enterprises
Architects: F. Frederic Amandes, George F. King
Previous Names: Hamblen Theater
Nearby Theaters
The Strand Theater, one of downtown Alameda’s foremost theaters, was built in 1918, opening on April 15, 1918. By 1926 it was operated by T & D Jr. Enterprises. It was re-modeled in 1936, closed in 1950, and demolished in 1964.
Contributed by
Garrett Murphy
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
The Strand’s original name was the Hamblen; it became the Strand on December 31, 1918. When the Nasser Brothers opened the (current) Alameda Theatre on August 16, 1932, they closed the Strand, which remained closed until July 10, 1936. This, coupled with the closure mentioned in the previous post, indicates that the Strand had a rather checkered off-on existence.
Motion Picture Herald issue of May 30, 1936, contained an item in its “Better Theatres” section announcing that Nasser Brothers intended to remodel the Strand, with plans by architect F.F. Amandes. If it re-opened little more than a month later, on July 10th of that year, the remodeling must not have been extensive.
This must be the theatre referred to in the December, 1917 issue of Architect & Engineer, which announced the erection of a “Class C theater to seat 1500 persons for Mr. James Hamblen; on Park street near Encinal Ave”
So, what was the Strand’s seating capacity—-1500 as stated by Joe Vogel, or 1400 according to the “Seats” listing above? Just wondering…
Original announcements of new theatres sometimes exaggerated the seating capacity a bit, and sometimes the plans were altered between the time of the announcement and the actual beginning of construction, and the capacity would end up a bit larger or smaller than originally announced.
It was also fairly common for a theatre to be reseated during its lifetime, most often by installing wider seats, sometimes by more extensive alterations that increased leg room by reducing the number of rows, and either of these would thus reduce the seating capacity. There were also some occasions when seating capacities of a theatre went up. This happened most often when a theatre originally built with an orchestra pit would have the pit covered over and a couple of rows of seats added in the new floor space.
Over the years seating capacities can change to go with local union contracts. In the past in the Los Angeles area projectionist contracts had a provision dealing with theatres seating over 1000 people. Theatres over seating over 1000 people had tobe manned by two projectionists a shift. To get under that clause in the contract the theatre owner or chain removed seats to get under 1000 seats.
The December, 1917, issue of The Architect & Engineer had this item about a theater project in Alameda which was most likely the Strand:
This article about the Hamblen Theatre appeared in The Moving Picture World of May 11, 1918:
I just realized that the house opening on April 15, 1918, means that tomorrow would have been the Hamblen Theatre’s 100th anniversary.
The Strand’s footprint is now part of the site of the Alameda Fire Department headquarters building. In the current Google Street view you can see a fire engine parked just about where the Strand’s 7-piece orchestra and the console of its Wurlitzer organ would probably have been.