Last Call for the Historic Clay Theatre

The Clay Theatre closes its doors Sunday after an 8 p.m. screening of Radu Mihaileanu's 'The Concert.'

Built in 1910, San Francisco's Clay Theatre, a single-screen cultural institution on Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights, will close its doors, presumably for the last time, this weekend.

Though the San Francisco Film Society offered to buy the theater or to pay for the lease that Landmark Theatres has held since 1991, their overtures were rebuffed by the Clay's landlord, Balgobind Jaiswal. The future of the space remains unclear.

Those wishing to pay their last respects can do so Sunday evening, when the theater will bow out with an 8 p.m. screening of Radu Mihaileanu's romantic comedy The Concert.

That's really sad to hear. I've always enjoyed frequenting the Clay. I hope the landlord has a change of heart.

By Dr J (not verified) on August 29, 2010

Apparently this is no longer true. Heard this morning that the landlord has agreed to let the Clay operate on a month-to-month basis while he continues to negotiate with the SF Film Society. If those negotiations end up going nowhere, I assume the theater will still close at some point, but for now, there's life in the old venue yet.

By Filmfan (not verified) on August 29, 2010

Such sad news. The SF Film Society is negotiating with the landlord, who recently bought the theater. Apparently he abruptly broke off negotiations. The neighborhood - and SF's passionate film community - won't allow some greedy landlord to knock down this historic theater and put up some ugly condos, or add it to the long line of empty storefronts along Fillmore.

By SF film lover (not verified) on August 26, 2010