SAN FRANCISCO—The historic Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre is set to reopen as a new adult entertainment venue in San Francisco's "famously gritty" Tenderloin neighborhood, the San Francisco Business Times reported on Wednesday.
According to the Times report, the venue's current ownership plans to open "Club 895" in the near future. A permit application AVN reported on last summer shows that the venue for the 12,000-square-foot building at 895 O’Farrell Street would offer a brand-new experience for adult nightlife-goers in the area. A permit consultant, David Villa-Lobos, said the club will capitalize on the historic and cultural significance of the O'Farrell Theatre by bringing fresh renovations and a new business model.
"It's going to be a whole fresh approach," Villa-Lobos told the Times. This "fresh" approach includes turning the O'Farrell Theatre into a venue that features a full bar, a full food menu, and other amenities for club guests, including karaoke."
Referring to the theatre's current ownership, Evan Kletter, Villa-Lobos explains, "There's a whole list prepared, a narrative for the city of what he wants to do there. So it's going to be a lot more than the old Mitchell Brothers." A budget of $4 million is expected to remodel the space, Villa-Lobos explained, noting that this investment is on top of $4.3 million already committed to purchase the property the year before. Reopening the venue would revitalize the tradition of groundbreaking pornography producers Artie and Jim Mitchell (aka the Mitchell Brothers), who were the original owners of the O'Farrell Theatre. The two cultivated the theatre into a legendary sex venue.
Hunter S. Thompson, a gonzo journalist and friend of the brothers, referred to the theatre as "the Carnegie Hall of public sex in America."
The O'Farrell Theatre earned further acclaim after the brothers directed the Golden Age smash hit Behind the Green Door, which starred ingénue Marilyn Chambers. With such iconic lore and history, O'Farrell also became a tourist attraction, operating until late 2020.
AVN reported on the venue's closure at the time, relaying AVN Hall of Fame star Nina Hartley's recollections of her experiences working at the O'Farrell.
