Alhambra Theatre, Art deco movie theater in Polk Street, San Francisco, United States
The Alhambra Theatre is a Moorish Revival movie palace at 2330 Polk Street in San Francisco, opened in 1926 and designed by Miller & Pflueger. Its exterior has two twin turrets meant to resemble a Moorish castle, while the interior holds intricate Art Deco work, including a kaleidoscope domed ceiling. It was built with reinforced concrete and unprotected steel trusses.
The theater opened in the 1920s and operated as a neighborhood cinema for several decades, first showing silent films and later sound pictures. Over the years the interior was modified, but the outer shell kept much of its original ornamental character.
The Alhambra Theatre sits in the Polk Gulch neighborhood, an area long known for its local shops and street life. The ornate facade with its arched windows and decorative tilework makes the building stand out clearly among the surrounding streetscape.
The building is no longer used as a cinema, but the exterior is fully visible from the sidewalk and worth a stop on any walk along Polk Street. Daylight gives the best view of the ornamental details on the facade.
The Alhambra's 1,625-seat auditorium opened on November 5, 1926, and in 1930 a bomb was found and removed before it could detonate. Since the 1998 closure, the balcony's widened aisles hold about 80 cardio machines facing the original big screen, where films are still shown.
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