User:Mliu92/sandbox/Century Theatre Domes (San Jose)

The Century Theatre Domes are a set of three domed movie theatres in San Jose, each originally built as single-screen auditoriums on land controlled by the Winchester Mystery House. They were designed by architect Vincent Raney; the first dome, Century 21, opened in 1964 as the first Century-branded theatre of the Century Theatres chain. The dome design of Century 21 was repeated throughout the Bay Area (including two neighboring sister domes, Century 22 and 23 in 1966 and 1967, respectively) and northern California in other Century-branded theatres. The dome design and name were part of a deliberate marketing tactic meant to evoke the future.

The three Century domes were not included as part of the 2006 sale of the Century chain to Cinemark Theatres, and they were operated by the original owners of Century Theatres, Syufy Enterprises, under the new moniker Winchester Theaters until the original 50-year property lease expired in 2014. The current owners of the land, Federal Realty, filed for a special use permit in 2013 to demolish all three domes, possibly to free land to expand the neighboring Santana Row shopping and residential development.

Since Century 21 has retained its original single-screen design, it was declared eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in June 2014, following the recommendation of xyz org. A grassroots organization, Save the Domes, has been organized to preserve the iconic dome theaters.

History
For the first Syufy Cinerama theatre, Syufy chose the name Century 21 to evoke the future. Vincent Raney had been hired by Syufy on prior theatre projects, but drew his inspiration from the Cinerama Dome Theatre in Los Angeles for the design of the San Jose theatre. The original roof used contrasting shingles to create a starburst motif

Vincent Raney married one of the daughters of the then-owners (Browns) of the Winchester House property and was likely instrumental in convincing them to lease the land to Syufy for use as a movie theater.

Michelle Bevis authored at least two letters on behalf of the Raney and Farris families opposing historic status, citing the declining competitiveness of a single-screen movie theater and changing viewing habits. It should be noted that since the land is still privately owned, the designation as a historic landmark does not preclude private use demolition.

Opened November 1964 screening It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.


 * July 25, 2013: special use permit filed to demolish
 * January 9, 2014: historic landmarks commission nominated it as a city landmark.
 * March 18, 2014: proceed with city landmark designation process based on NRHP application info.
 * March 30, 2014: last picture show of Raiders of the Lost Ark
 * April 22, 2014: California state historical resources commission recommends NPS eligibility to list on NRHP
 * June 13, 2014: NPS determines C21 eligible for NRHP listing, DO_14000306

In the weeks following the last show, which was a screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the tenant partially demolished the interior of Century 21, removing the seats and some lobby fixtures.

Influence
As the first Century-branded theater created by Syufy, the dome became a corporate trademark and similar dome theatres opened by Century Theatres (and United Artists, who employed Vincent Raney as well) include:
 * Century 21 (Oakland) 1967 GWTW (demolished 1990s) http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/5377


 * Cinedome (Orange) 196x (demolished 1999) http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/4975
 * UA 150 (Seattle) 1969 (closed 1998, demolished 2002) http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/4370
 * Stargazers (Colorado Springs) 1969 (still standing) http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/36522
 * CineArts (Burlingame)?
 * Century Almaden ?

Preservation

 * http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/21/5635454/silence-of-the-domes-1964-2014