Why does the marquee on the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland say in huge letters, “HELP SAVE THE UA BERKELEY”?
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“Because it’s an architectural masterpiece,” says Allen Michaan, owner of the Grand Lake, who has been going to the United Artists Theater in downtown Berkeley ever since he saw “The Godfather” there in 1972. “Berkeley has lost so many absolute jewels in the last few years, and the UA, which is the most beautiful of all, is the last except for the Rialto on College Avenue.”
The four greatest stars of early Hollywood — Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and director D.W. Griffith — founded United Artists as an independent production company in 1919 and branched out to theater ownership over the next 10 years.
On Sept. 16, 1932, they unveiled their greatest creation: the United Artists Theater, not in Hollywood but on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley. The sellout crowd included Pickford and Bing Crosby, who signed autographs for the happy theatergoers. The featured attraction was “Down to Earth” starring Will Rogers.
This gem of a movie palace featured Art Deco chandeliers and murals, railings that glistened like silver, large men’s and women’s lounges with deluxe furniture and Roman drinking fountains with sparkling ice water. It also featured a 25-foot-deep stage for live performances, dressing rooms, a green room, an electric concert organ, a spacious orchestra pit, plus clusters of blue, green, white and yellow lightbulbs illuminating from below the balcony rail.
It was enchanting, and although it went through many changes, including conversion to a multiplex in the 1970s and ’80s, it has remained enchanting ever since.
Alas, all that is at risk.
Movie theaters in Berkeley have been closing at breakneck speed, including the historic California Theatre across the street, which a developer holds final approval to raze.
Now the UA, the finest theater of them all, is on the chopping block, too. It stopped showing movies nearly two years ago and a developer bought the theater with plans to level the palatial building — except for parts of the facade and lobby — to construct a high-rise apartment tower.
The proposal is getting pushback from ordinary citizens like Rose Ellis, whose happiest moments growing up in Berkeley were going to the UA as a child.
“I marveled at the beauty of the details, like the lobby railings and murals, and I said to myself, ‘Thank God this is here.’ I always wanted to come here and see all this beauty for the rest of my life,” says Ellis.
“I went to a Facebook group and read people saying it’s a done deal, and I said to myself, ‘Why is it a done deal? Is nobody going to fight for this?’ I called my friend Ben Ondrasek, who is in a group to save downtown Santa Clara, and he always says, ‘There is no such thing as a done deal.’”
“He said to me, ‘Are you willing to fight for it?’ I said, ’Yes,’ and he said, ‘OK. I’ll show you how.’”
That was in April 2023. Since then, dozens of supporters have attended public meetings, while hundreds have written to city officials calling on them to find a way to protect the entire theater.
They say the theater should be preserved as an all-purpose community arts and entertainment venue like the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. Fortunately, most of its distinct Art Deco décor and architectural elements are still intact, hidden behind the fake walls erected when it became a multiplex. Or short of that, it could return to being a uniquely historic multi-screen cinema. Bottom line, they say: Do not destroy this irreplaceable theater.
The dispute is finally coming to a head. The project was set to undergo a review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), because the UA is a city landmark and is on the California Register of Historical Resources. However, the developer claims a recently passed state housing law allows it to bypass CEQA review. Without the additional scrutiny this review would provide, supporters fear the UA could be doomed.
The matter is now in the hands of the city attorney’s office, which is expected to finalize the CEQA decision by the end of the month. However, there’s still time to register your opinion. Visit savetheuaberkeley.org online, and click on the “Take Action” button.
“Yes, Berkeley needs more housing space,” says Michaan. “But at what cost? If we let this treasure go away, it will never come back.”
Martin Snapp can be reached at catman442@comcast.net.