Chabot Spectator

Issue date: 5/10/07 Section: In Focus

One of the many historic movie theaters in the Bay Area continues to keep its dream of reopening alive. The San Lorenzo movie theater on Hesperian Boulevard, known to many as the "Lorenzo" Theater, is getting ready to be bought out by the foundation that strives to keep the Lorenzo open.

The Lorenzo first opened on April 5, 1947 when it showed the movie, Dark Mirror, starring Olivia DeHaviland. In the summer time, the Lorenzo would give movie passes to school safety patrols to hand out to the students so they could come on Wednesday to see a free movie. To get the community involved, the Lorenzo would hold costume parties on Halloween. Also, the Lorenzo Theater was the first theater in northern California in which the members of the audience could go on stage and perform during the screenings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. After many years of running, the Lorenzo finally closed its doors in 1982.

Moving forward, the Lorenzo is now being kept up by the Lorenzo Theater Foundation. According to Nancy Shelvy, member of the board of directors of the Lorenzo Theater Foundation, besides taking donations and selling merchandise to those around the community, there are two events during the year to keep the foundation up and running. Shelvy said, "We hold two wildly popular events each year: a pancake breakfast in February and a Speakeasy dance complete with gambling and a 16 piece orchestra in September."

Shelvy believes that those around the community care should put in an effort to help try and reopen the Lorenzo. She said, "The Lorenzo is the last vestige of life in the community. It can be revitalized and used not only for movies but as a venue for art displays, community meetings, small live productions, conferences and dance recitals and the rebirth of the Saturday matinee."

Shelvy also said that there is a movement throughout the United States to save local historic resources and the Lorenzo qualifies as one. It is a California State Historic Resource and a Historic Preservation District, the first, and only, in Alameda County.

Shelvy and everyone else in the Lorenzo Theater Foundation are in the process of reaching an agreement with the owner to raise $300,000 in one year. The agreement would also allow the foundation to go after large corporations to sponsor them. The theater would be willing to give naming rights.

For more information on how to you may be help contribute to the Lorenzo Theater people can go to www.savethelorenzo.org.

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