California Theatre - San Jose
This historic venue, originally known as the Fox Theatre, was designed in 1927 by architects Weeks and Day and once said to be "the finest theater in California." The first film shown there was An Affair of the Follies, starring 1920s "it" girl, Billy Dove. The theater was immediately a hit with the community.
Over the years, it housed vaudeville shows and showed films in 3D and Cinemascope. In the 1960s and 1970s, the building passed through several owners and closed in 1973. In 1985, it was purchased by the Redevelopment Agency with the intention of preserving the City's largest remaining downtown movie palace.
Construction began in July 2001 to renovate and restore the beautiful building. The $75 million restoration was funded by the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Jose and the Packard Humanities Institute, which financed over one-third of the project cost.
Today, the California Theater is a 1,122 seat venue, with up to 14 ADA-compliant spaces | 687 Orchestra & 435 Balcony seats. The theater is home to events of all kinds, but it is often used as a special conference and meeting facility - a special place in the middle of SoFa, San Jose's arts and entertainment district.
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