The Scottish Rites Bodies Regency Center (commonly known as the Regency Center) is a multi-use events venue located in San Francisco. at the intersection of

Van Ness Avenue Van Ness Avenue is a north–south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. Originally named Marlette Street, the street was renamed Van Ness Avenue in honor of the city's sixth mayor, James Van Ness. The main part of Van Ness Avenue runs fro ...

and Sutter Street. It opened in 1909 as a masonic lodge. In later years, it has served as a dance studio and movie theatre.

History

The venue opened in 1909 as the "Scottish Rite Temple", built by the

Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the Sco ...

as a

masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

. In 1966, the lodge was purchased by Blumenfeld Enterprises and converted into an 800-seat movie theater. The theater opened as "Regency I" on December 22, 1967, with a showing of ''

The Birds, the Bees and the Italians ''The Birds, the Bees and the Italians'' is a 1966 Italian film directed by Pietro Germi. Its original Italian title is ''Signore & Signori'', which means 'Ladies and Gentlemen'. The anthology film is a sex comedy that presents three storylines, ...

''. The neighboring building, known as "Regency II" was formerly the

Avalon Ballroom The Avalon Ballroom was a music venue in the Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco, California, at 1244 Sutter Street (or 1268 Sutter, depending on the entrance). The space is known as the location of many concerts of the counterculture move ...

. Blumenfeld Enterprises converted this space into an adjoining movie theatre in 1968 and remained opened until 2001. In 1980, the building was also used by the Polish Arts and Culture Foundation as a banquet hall and dance studio until 1999 (known as the "Ruvano Dance Studio"). The theatre closed on November 7, 1998, and the dance studio remained in the building until January 1999. The venue remained dormant until it was purchased by Scott Robertson in 2000. Renvoations for the space began February 2001, with a grand reopening as the "Regency Center" in March 2002. During this time, the venue was primarily used for corporate events, trade shows and weddings, with 9-15 concerts held annually. In 2008, the

Warfield Theatre The Warfield Theatre, colloquially referred to as The Warfield, is a 2,300-seat music venue located in San Francisco, California. It was built as a vaudeville theater and opened as the '' Loews Warfield'' on May 13, 1922. History In the 1920s, T ...

closed for renovations, with all concerts moved to the Grand Ballroom. The move increased the venue's use as a concert hall. Concert promoter Goldenvoice began management and operations of the venue in September 2008. In 2015, the venue was renamed the "Scottish Rites Bodies Regency Center" to tie in its heritage as a former masonic lodge.

Venues

*Regency Ballroom: The Beaux-Arts designed auditorium serves as the main concert venue and ballroom. It can hold 700 guests in a theatre setting and up to 1,400 in a reception/general admission setting. This venue was formerly known as the "Grand Ballroom at Regency Center" from 2002 until 2008. *The Lodge: The original meeting hall for the Scottish Rite Freemasons. It features the original

Austin Organs Austin Organs, Inc., is a manufacturer of pipe organs based in Hartford, Connecticut. The company is one of the oldest continuously-operating organ manufacturers in the United States. The first instruments were built in 1893 with the Austin Patent ...

from 1909. The venue can hold up to 300 guests. It is used for fundraising events, galas and seminars. *Social Hall: This basement venue is primarily used for comedy events, private functions and receptions. The hall was originally known as the "Sutter Room" from 2002 until 2014. The venue closed for a year and renovations and reopened in Fall 2015. The changes allowed the hall to be used as a general admission music venue, holding up to 600 guests

External links

Regency Ballroom - Venue InfoSocial Hall - Venue Info

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Regency Center Entertainment venues in San Francisco Music venues in San Francisco Theatres in San Francisco Masonic buildings completed in 1909 1909 establishments in California Event venues established in 1966 1966 establishments in California

History

Venues

See also

External links

References