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Staff 8.A. - Page 244 , Resources Agency Primary #
<br /> DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI#
<br /> CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
<br /> Page 8 of 13 *Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) 2215 Broadway
<br /> *Recorded by: Richard Brandi *Date:January 4, 2010 ❑x Continuation ❑ Update
<br /> �eC. ; to /7
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<br /> HOW THE NEW TREAT r'_ BLOC WILL LOOK
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<br /> Here is the architect's conception of the new Sequoia Theater and adjacent stores, to be built
<br /> onr the site of the old Central Grammar School. The imposing structure is to be built by Hare,
<br /> Brewer Q Clark, l -known real'
<br /> Ha y }irm• The central portion, benea " th the a towe is the front o• year the
<br /> theater. The storwe le at the Irft Is to be occupied by a Woolwort five t" branch. A 15 -
<br /> rease mil has ton been and signed by the firm. This magnificent building will have front space on Broadway,
<br /> Webster streets, opposite the court house. Reid Bros. of San Francisco are the archi-
<br /> tects.
<br /> Figure 9. Sketch of the proposed Theater Block in 1927. Source:
<br /> Redwood City Tribune, December 26, 1927.
<br /> The Reid Brothers were well known architects based in San Francisco. James William Reid (1851 -1943) and Merrit J. Reid (1855-
<br /> 1932) were born in Canada. James graduated from MIT and the Ecole des Beaux -Arts. They worked for the architecture firm of
<br /> Boyd and Brickley in Indiana and opened their own practice in 1879. Several of their works in the Midwest are listed on the
<br /> National Register of Historic Places. They moved to San Diego to design the Hotel del Coronado in 1888, which is listed on the
<br /> National Register and is also designated a National Historic Landmark (only one of 2,300 nationwide).
<br /> Moving to San Francisco in 1889, the brothers, now elected Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, began a prolific career
<br /> and during the following 30 years designed many notable buildings including skyscrapers (San Francisco Call in 1895), office
<br /> buildings, department stores (W. J. Sloan 1908), churches (First Congregation in 1913, San Francisco Landmark #177), hotels
<br /> (Fairmount Hotel 1902) houses, theatres, and even a streetcar barn (Geneva Car barn, San Francisco Landmark #180). Many of
<br /> these are local landmarks or are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Clearly, they can be considered "masters"
<br /> under the National Register.
<br /> The Reid Brothers designed 34 theaters, the majority between 1920 and 1933. The Fox (formerly Sequoia) was designed near
<br /> the end of their practice. The Reid Brothers worked in a variety of styles and choose the Gothic style for the Sequoia, a style that
<br /> was then in vogue nationally (for colleges, churches and office buildings, notably the 1922 Chicago Tribune building) and in San
<br /> Francisco (e.g., the Russ Building, George Kelham, 1928).
<br /> Atmospheric theater
<br /> The Reid Brothers designed the interior of the Sequoia theater in the "Atmospheric Effect" style. Newspaper articles told readers
<br /> that "patrons of the new show house will imagine they are in a Street of a Town Somewhere in Spain... on either side of the theater
<br /> building the pure Spanish type arose and their tiled roofs were silhouetted against a background of sky and treetops. Overheard a
<br /> wide expanse of blue sky flicked with clouds and stars, helped to create the out of doors effect desired." 11 The well known theater
<br /> architect Thomas W. Lamb of New York, who designed San Francisco's Fox theater (not extant), wrote about the Atmospheric
<br /> 8 Realtor and historian David Perry's website, www.classicsfproperties.com, assessed December 12, 2009.
<br /> 9 SF Now website, www.sf - now.com, assessed December 8, 2009. See also Cynthia Barwick Malinick, "The Lives and Works of
<br /> the Reid Brothers Architects 1952- 1943," master thesis, University of San Diego, 1992.
<br /> 10 The National Register Nomination form for the Fox Theater, dated April 1, 1993, section 8 page 4.
<br /> 11 The Daily Redwood City Tribune, January 4, 1929.
<br /> DPR 523L (1195) *Required information
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