The Clay Theater on Fillmore Street will reopen next year

After sitting vacant for five years, the historic Clay Theater on Fillmore Street is finally getting the investment it needs to come back to life. The marquee will light up again, films will return to the big screen, and one more neighborhood institution will be saved from permanent decay.

The Facts

The Clay Theater will undergo a full renovation: seismic upgrades, modern projection and sound systems, and a restored 200-seat auditorium that will host more than 500 screenings a year. The original neon sign and facade will be preserved, and the name, “The Clay”, is staying.

Millions of dollars are being invested to undertake a thoughtful, community-minded renovation. The project is led by the nonprofit Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project, which is committed to restoring the theater as a public cultural space. A board of local advisers is said to be in the works to help guide the effort. Design and architecture teams with deep experience in historic preservation—like Page & Turnbull and Arup—are helping bring the vision to life.

The Context

The Clay Theater first opened in 1910, making it one of the oldest movie houses in San Francisco. For decades, it was a beloved arthouse cinema, known for foreign films, independent features, and midnight screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

After decades of operation under Landmark Theatres, the Clay shut down in early 2020—just before the pandemic—when Landmark chose not to renew its lease. Since then, the building has sat dark, a vacant shell where a beloved neighborhood institution once thrived.

The Clay is just one of many shuttered theaters across San Francisco. Institutions like the Alexandria in the Richmond and the Red Vic in the Haight have sat dark for years. This project shows what’s possible when we choose to build for the future.

The GrowSF Take

The Clay’s comeback is a blueprint for revitalizing every San Francisco neighborhood. A long-vacant, historic theater will be restored, reopened, and returned to public use. It’ll bring new energy, foot traffic, and cultural activity to Fillmore Street.

We’re also excited to see a similar effort at the Castro Theatre, where Another Planet Entertainment is working to bring live programming and movies back to the city’s most iconic cinema.

None of this was inevitable. These spaces would have stayed empty without major philanthropic investment and a commitment to thoughtful, community-oriented restoration. We’re lucky to have civic-minded people stepping up to make it happen—and we need more of it, in more neighborhoods, all over the city.