The Facts

San Francisco’s Castro Theatre is back! The historic theatre is staging community “soft opening” events on Feb. 6–7, 2026, ahead of its official reopening on Feb. 10.

The theater has been closed since February 2024 for a desperately needed $41 million renovation.

The Context

The Castro Theatre is a 1922 movie palace and city landmark known for its stunning architecture and vibrant role in San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community. It has hosted countless film festivals, premieres, and community events over the decades.

GrowSF supported its renovation plan, which opponents threatened to derail by trying to declare its interior seats as a historic feature. We argued that the fixed seats were replaced in 2001 (hardly historic!) and that seat-focused fights were largely a tactic to block modernization—including accessibility upgrades.

The renovation plan is aimed at keeping the building viable with more kinds of programming (movies and concerts) and updated infrastructure, as described on the theater’s preservation plan.

The GrowSF Take

GrowSF backed this plan because San Francisco needs iconic venues that can modernize, stay open, and drive neighborhood foot traffic, and we need less procedural obstructionism that drags out projects and keeps spaces closed for years.

We’re thrilled the Castro is close to reopening—and City Hall should get to work fixing its historic preservation process so that more projects like this can move forward without unnecessary delays.