The Castro Theatre won't be reopening this summer as originally planned. That's according to an announcement made Thursday at the Castro Merchants Association by Another Planet Entertainment, the company in charge of the renovation and restoration project at the historic site.
Other items discussed at the business group's first meeting of 2025 included the need to find a new president; hearing a proposal for a wellness center; and support for a new mural in the LGBTQ neighborhood.
The Castro Theatre is an integral part of the neighborhood, and business owners as well as residents have looked forward to its reopening following significant renovation. Another Planet Entertainment, which manages the theater, started the renovation project in spring 2024.
APE project manager Margaret Casey announced that the events and concerts producer is hoping to open it in the fall. It means the historic moviehouse will be dark for the second year during Frameline, the city's international LGBTQ film festival that usually shows most of its movies at the Castro Theatre during mid-June, bringing an influx of hundreds of people into the neighborhood over the course of its run.
Last year during Pride Month Frameline utilized theaters in the Mission, Civic Center, Marina, and Laurel Heights to show its films in San Francisco. The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus also relocated its annual Christmas Eve shows from the Castro Theatre to Davies Symphony Hall last December.
"We originally forecast summer of this year, hoping we'll be open during Pride. That's not going to happen," Casey said at the merchants meeting. "Our next best bet is October, November, and December we'll be able to open."
The reason, Casey said, is Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
"Our current issue is PG&E," she said. "We need to add power for our lighting and sound systems. We have a couple different options for where we draw power from – one is simple and easy, one is complicated – and we have no control over any of that, so we have been very much in a holding pattern.
"If anyone knows anything about PG&E, give us a call," she continued. "We do have a full crew doing everything else."
But the utility company told the B.A.R. it has finished its job at the theater unless APE returns to its original electricity connection plans.
Nate Bourg, a gay man who's the merchants' treasurer, said, "It's emblematic of people's frustrations with San Francisco."
"I can understand how a homeowner can have problems with a process moving along, but you're a big company with so much influence and connections," he said to Casey. "I find it wild. It's hurting the neighborhood."
As for its part, a PG&E spokesperson stated to the B.A.R. February 7, "PG&E has completed the contract for this project."
"In November, we held a preconstruction meeting with Another Planet's contractors. We discussed the trenching work that the company would need to complete to allow PG&E to connect the theater to the electric system," a spokesperson for the utility company stated in an email. "In January [2025], two months after that preconstruction meeting, Another Planet proposed a different connection point. However, that connection point would compromise the safety and reliability of our electric system due to existing equipment at that alternative location."
The spokesperson continued that PG&E can continue working once APE trenches to the original connection point.
"We continue to wait for Another Planet to trench to the connection point agreed upon in November," the spokesperson concluded. "Once the company completes the trenching work and passes inspections, PG&E can schedule the construction work for energization."
APE spokesperson David Perry, a gay man, was asked about PG&E's comments.
"We are working closely with PG&E on this matter and look forward to finalizing a solution to bring the needed upgrade to the electrical service into the theater as soon as possible," he stated.
As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, work has been ongoing inside the theater, the marquee of which has also been restored. APE took over management of the theater in January 2022, beginning a saga in the neighborhood over what its fate should be.
The theater had heretofore been both owned and run by the Nasser family. APE, which runs the Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco's Civic Center area, wanted the venue to be used for concerts as well as for cinema, and take out the orchestra level seats.
Some Castro neighborhood organizations, and LGBTQ and film groups – such as the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District and the Castro Theatre Conservancy – formed the Friends of the Castro Theatre Coalition in opposition to APE's proposed plans.
APE announced the orchestra seats would be replaced with motorized, raked seating usable for both concerts and film; after which, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved the prerequisite ordinances allowing APE's vision to move forward. The crucial vote, which passed 6-4, rejected an amendment that would have required the orchestra seating to be fixed.
In October 2023, the supervisors approved allowing second-floor alcohol sales throughout the Castro Street Neighborhood Commercial District.
The seats on that mezzanine level are slated to remain, having been designated as historical during the protracted approval process.
Casey said that APE continues to look forward to the project's completion.
"We're still excited," she said. "It's still going to be great."
Merchants' leader stepping aside
Terry Asten Bennett, a straight ally who is the president of the Castro business association, will not be running for reelection, as she noted in the merchants' newsletter. The Cliff's Variety co-owner most recently became president in 2023 and has served in the position previously.
"I will not be running for president again," she said at the meeting. "I have a commitment to stay on the board for at least two more years, if you guys have me, to make sure the transition is smooth and effective. ... If you're interested in being on the board, please reach out to me. I'm at Cliff's 24/7, except for when I'm not."
The board election will be held at the merchants' April meeting, which will also be a public meeting of the organization, as required by the city.
Castro wellness center proposed
Ryan MacCarrigan, a gay man who's the executive director of Queer Life Space, told the merchants that he is proposing a capital campaign with a projected cost of $10 million to create a building for businesses and nonprofits addressing queer wellness.
"We probably will see a red state refugee crisis because of what's happening," he said, referring to restrictions on LGBTQ and especially transgender rights in red states. "California will probably take a lot of these refugees, and San Francisco absolutely will."
MacCarrigan said the space could be a home for his organization – which is in a protracted fight with its landlord, as the B.A.R. previously reported – and also serve as a "legacy project" so that other organizations focused on issues of wellbeing can have an anchor in the neighborhood.
"Castro Wellness Center is a physical space," MacCarrigan envisions. "It will be a permanent space to really convey the fact we are committed to community wellness."
He said that he was inspired by the city's purchase last fall of 2280 Market Street to house an LGBTQ history museum. (https://www.ebar.com/story.php?ch=news&id=335557)
"I've already spoken to Supervisor [Rafael] Mandelman and he is supportive of the idea, and he will probably talk to Mayor [Daniel] Lurie soon," he said. "It's good for Mayor Lurie to latch himself on to something like this to show his support for the community."
Mandelman and the mayor's office didn't return requests for comment for this report by press time.
MacCarrigan said that "it's going to take years to raise this kind of money" and that the $10 million figure was speculative, subject to inflation and other costs. He offered to form an exploratory committee with anyone interested in the idea.
"This is the seed of an idea," he said. "I think it's better to start in a public forum like this rather than having people thinking it's a cabal of people with power and influence. ... We're all stakeholders."
Other items
The merchants voted to send a letter to the arts commission endorsing a new mural behind the Walgreens at 498 Castro Street. As the B.A.R. reported earlier this week, the artwork of Tanya Wischerath will be used for the mural, which will be painted between April 1-15.
They also voted to endorse Bar49's use of lights outside the establishment at 2295 Market Street. Gay proprietor Colm O'Brien said for them to stay up over 90 days he needs city approval and an endorsement from the merchants goes a long way.
Ron Willis announced that he's working on the 2025-2026 Castro Guide for the merchants, which lists the association's members. Willis said that a quarter-page in the guide is $275 and that advertisements are due in April. For only $100, the team working on the guide will design an ad – "a flat rate which has been our rate extended to members for the last dozen years," he said. Willis lives in Southern California now, but as a labor of love continues to work on the guide, he said.
Asten Bennett advised the members that a dozen people a day pick up the current edition of the guide from Cliff's daily.
"They are getting into people's hands," she said. "It is the least expensive form of advertising for the community and for you, and it's effective."
Updated, 2/7/25: This article has been updated with comments from PG&E and APE's response.
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