Bay Area Adult Theater Being Torn Down

This week instead of The Passion or Lord of the Rings, the Palm Theater is showing Run, Mary, Run; Dark Desires;and Buffy’s First Encounter.

The content of what was show in the theater is the reason why the San Mateo Planning Commissioners opted to tear the theater down rather than place the 1950s art deco building on the California Register of Historical Resources. The time frame of the demolition has not yet been announced.

In a vote of 4-1 earlier this week, the planning commission ended three years of reports and debates and decided to have the theater torn down, despite the fact that it is one of the last neighborhood theaters in the Bay area that is still intact.

"I'm not an advocate of adult theaters, but it bothers me that we are tearing down so many historical sites," said Commissioner Bertha Sanchez told the San Mateo County Times. "I want to put pressure on him to maintain the history of the site."

"I was hesitant to give the theater its death certificate without proper investigation and hearing from the neighbors," said Commissioner Torin Knorr, who was one in a vote of 4-1 to recommend the project. "But this is clearly better for the neighborhood."

The decision to tear down the old-fashioned, single-screen theater was not arrived at lightly. Nearly three years of project study and debate have passed since developers initially proposed the project.

AVN.com was unable to reach the owner of the theater for comment.

The San Francisco Examiner reports that it was largely the testimony of neighbors who opposed the content of what was shown inside the theater that led to the buildings demise.

A 19-unit apartment building with 38 parking spots will go up in the theater’s space.

The theater showed adult videos seven days a week. Women were always admitted for free. The theater originally showed mainstream films but switched to adult films in 1972. With the advent of video, the theater began to show videos.

The Palm Theater, appropriately named considering the content of the videos shown, was named after the street that it is located on.