— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
People were tearing down the marquee of the much-neglected Cine Latino this weekend and now all that remains is a steal frame and some rotted wood. Were they just doing some routine destructive maintenance to get rid of an imminent hazard, or is this the beginning some new development in the space?
We have to ask because just two months or so ago we were hearing multiple rumors that a brewery partnering with Gordon Biersch were looking at opening a brewery at Cine Latino in conjunction with the forthcoming Alamo Drafthouse across the street. All parties denied the rumors, so we let it go. But now someone is suddenly doing work on the place? Even if that specific rumor was wrong, it seems as though something is up.
Comments (6)
Have you seen inside there? It’s gigantic.
Were the appropriate Concerned Neighbors consulted with adequate time for the ritual freakout about proposed changes? If not, I am outraged on their behalf!
Looking inside is a bit sad. The steel frame appears to be a seismic retrofit and there’s absolutely nothing left of the original interior. It’s just the seriously neglected skin of an old building hung on a generic steel frame. It really might as well be a new construction
Not to change the subject but does anybody know what’s going on inside the vacant corner building that was hit by a car (truck?) on the south east corner of 18th and Mission? I”ve seen lights on inside and workers clearing out the place.
The planning department heard a proposal in Nov 2001 to convert the Cine Latino (formerly the Wigwam Theater) into a health club and rock climbing gym. There were building permits issued in 2009 to the “owner” for a proposed “health studios and gym”. According to the planning department the owner is Robert Cort of 3rd Ave here in SF. All this according to the Internets. Not bad, but I like the rumors better. Whatever happens there they must bring back the “Wigwam” name.
From the (also Cort-owned) US Bank bldg. just south of it, you can see clear into the building now that its roof, too, has been removed. It was completely gutted; over the last year they’ve added a new 2nd level; now they’ve got scaffolding up to work on the exterior walls.
We talked to some of the contractors a few months back; they said this was a multi-year project to convert the building for “retail”, but didn’t get more specific than that.