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Balboa/Westwood Theater

Balboa (later the Westwood) Theater
1634 Ocean Avenue
San Francisco, California

Opened: December 23, 1922

Closed: 1933?

This first Balboa theater (named for its proximity to the Balboa Terrace neighborhood) lost its unique name after the "New" Balboa Theatre opened in the Richmond district.

Renamed the Westwood in 1932, the movie house had already lost most of its business the year before, when the mighty El Rey opened just up the street. The Westwood soon closed and was torn down.

(Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this information.)

Image: Balboa Theater in 1928. Courtesy of J.E. Tillmany.

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This project is made possible by a grant from the CALIFORNIA COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES with generous support from the San Francisco Foundation, as part of the Council's statewide California Stories Initiative. The COUNCIL is an independent non-profit organization and a state affiliate of the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES. For more information on the Council and the California Stories Initiative, visit www.californiastories.org.

Page launched 8 May 2001; Updated 26 May 2003.