Crest Theatre

The Crest Theatre is a historic theatre located in downtown Sacramento, California.

History

It originally opened in 1912 as the Empress Theatre, and at that time was used as a vaudeville palace. It later became the Hippodrome. On September 14, 1946 the Hippodrome's marquee suddenly fell to the pavement below, killing a bystander, Mrs. Jessie Shirley Potter, 41, of Alta, who was crushed beneath the marquee. Joseph Brady, 40, was struck a glancing blow and sustained a skull fracture, broken collarbone, permanent brain injury and loss of hearing in one ear. Damages of $176,334.50 were sought by Potter's family and by Brady in superior court.

Shortly after the tragedy, in 1949, the building was completely remodeled and revamped to its current form as the Crest Theatre. During the 1950s and 1960s, it was one of the premier first-run movie palaces in the Sacramento area. As the decade turned to the 1970s, it was reduced to mostly sub-run fare. In the early 1980s, the Crest closed down for a time while several attempts were made to revive the theatre in many forms, including a dinner theatre. Finally, by the end of 1995, the Crest was completely refurbished and today its main auditorium (which has been left in its post-1946 unaltered state) is a multi-purpose theatre showing classic revival and specialty films, occasional live shows and lectures. Two additional cinemas were built adjacent to the original site around the time of the remodeling.