New Mission Theater

1. 1907

   Built.

2. June 1910

   The Premium Theater opened, a small brick cinema designed by E. B. Johnston and built for $7,000 on a site that had held wood-frame houses. In 1913 it passed with two other theatres to Greenfield & Kahn, who renamed it the Idle Hour.

   National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
3. May 1916

   The New Mission Theater opened, the Idle Hour gutted to make its promenade lobby and a vast concrete auditorium, 102 by 108 feet, built behind it on Bartlett Street to designs by the Reid Brothers — their first cinema. Mayor James Rolph spoke at the opening.

   National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
4. 1917

   Built for the partnership of Greenfield and Kahn to designs by the Reid Brothers, the 2,800-seat New Mission — with a Neoclassical and Venetian Renaissance auditorium — was the first "downtown" movie palace built in an outlying neighbourhood and briefly the largest in California. Mayor James Rolph, Mission-born, spoke at its opening of the Mission's arrival in civic affairs; it was the largest and most lavish theatre on the Mission's "Miracle Mile" until the El Capitan of 1928.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
5. November 15, 1917

   Reopened with a balcony enlarged by 1,000 seats and a patrons' lounge on a lot bought to the north on Bartlett Street, both by the Reid Brothers, bringing it to 2,800 seats — the largest cinema outside downtown. The programme opened with Mary Pickford in Poor Little Peppina.

   National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
6. 1932

   Renovation of the New Mission Theater by Miller and Pflueger; San Francisco Landmark #245.

   Architecture, Planning & Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies, adopted 2021
7. 1932

   The Nasser family bought the theatre and had Timothy Pflueger replace the Reid Brothers' front and marquee with the Art Deco facade and pylon sign, its neon made and installed by Alexander Aimwell Cantin, and redo the promenade lobby, leaving the auditorium alone. It reopened late that year.

   National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
8. 1932

   The theatre's new owner, Abraham Nasser, had Timothy Pflueger of Miller & Pflueger replace the Reid Brothers' front with an Art Deco facade, a 70-foot sign and a promenade lobby, leaving the auditorium largely as built; it put the theatre back on the map until after the Second World War. It was Miller & Pflueger's first theatre design.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
9. 1961

   The vestibule walls were furred out and faced with white ceramic panels, and its coffered ceiling hidden behind acoustic tile.

   National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
10. June 16, 1986

    Robert Durden photographed the property, showing New Mission Theatre.

    Robert Durden Color Slide Collection (SFP 42), San Francisco Public Library
11. May 1993

    Closed as a cinema, leaving the Roxie as the Mission District's last. The building was then let to a furniture retailer.

    National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
12. 1998

    City College of San Francisco bought the theatre.

    National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
13. November 9, 2001

    Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the best surviving early movie palace in the Mission District, with the Reid Brothers' most intact theatre interior and Pflueger's earliest surviving Art Deco theatre work in the city.

    National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
14. 2004

    Designated San Francisco Landmark No. 245, New Mission Theater.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
15. Jun 2013

    Issued Permit M402327 $$$ $267

    Add address to block 3616, lot 083 as; 2550 mission st.

16. Jun 2013

    Permit 201306200106 $$$ $7,000,000

    Interior and exterior renovation of existing theater. work to include new elevator, accessibility upgrades, new furniture, new finishes, new kitchen and restrooms. new exterior egress stairs. mep under separate permit. sprinklers, fire alarm separate permits.

17. Jun 2013

    Permit 201306200114 $$$ $2,500,000

    Mep work for remodeled existing theater. architectural under permit application 201306200106. sprinklers & fire alarm under separate permits.

18. Aug 2013

    Permit 201308144342 $$$ $100,000

    Interior demolition only, all work to comply with ab-017.

19. Sep 2013

    Issued Permit 201309096321 $$$ $35,000

    Reroofing.

20. Oct 2013

    Issued Permit 201310159304 $$$ $65,000

    Structural work at the roof for future equipment.

21. Jun 2014

    Permit 201406279838 $$$ $1

    Reference permit application 201306200106. new exterior fire escapes, roof access ladder & roof hatches. exterior visible duct work excluded from scope.

22. Jul 2014

    Permit 201407090820 $$$ $1

    Deferred submittal for micropiles for permit application 201306200106.

23. Sep 2014

    Permit 201409226891 $$$ $65,000

    Add new nfpa 13 fire sprinkler system for entire building for 201310159304. underground and sprinkler monitoring permits by others. canopy on first floor mission side non-combustible- sprinklers not required.

24. Feb 2015

    Permit 201502118067 $$$ $5,000

    Underground supply for fire sprinklers. t.i. permit application 201306200106. permit application 201409226891 - sprinkler.

25. Mar 2015

    Issued Permit M567627

    Streetspace.

26. May 2015

    Issued Permit 201505156476 $$$ $1

    Revision to pa 2013 0620 0106 & mep revisions to pa 2013 0620 0114 for interior renovations of existing theater.

27. Jul 2015

    Permit 201507201964 $$$ $1

    Electrical revision to permit application 2013-0620-0114 for electrical plan check.

28. Aug 2015

    Issued Permit 201508113906 $$$ $32,500

    New fire alarm / voice evac system. ref permit application 2013/09/20/0106, permit application 2015/05/15/6476 including 1 control panel, 6 smoke detectors, 1 pull station, 26 relays, 12 duct detectors, 1 annunciator panel, 4 monitor modules, 2 heat detectors, 77 speaker / strobes.

29. Oct 2015

    Permit 201510210318 $$$ $5,000

    Furnish and install 3 ansul r-102 fire suppression system in the main kitchen area on the ground floor. ref app#201505156476.

30. Dec 2015

    Permit 201512034124 $$$ $1

    Mep revision to 201306200114 for c02 piping.

31. Jan 2016

    Permit 201601268033 $$$ $2,500

    7 evacuation plan signage on levels 1 and 3.

32. Sep 2025

    Permit 202509266248 $$$ $50,000

    Theater 1-5: replace existing theater seats with new powered recliner theater seats, replace finishes as shown on a4.1 & a4.2. update electrical & ventilation for new seat layout.

33. Jan 2026

    Issued Permit 202601274593 $$$ $1

    Revision to 202509266248 with electrical changes to sheets e2.1, e2.2, e3.1 for new powered reclinders.

5 nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permits are omitted from the timeline. The assessor's roll gives 1907; this address is recorded as built 1932.