For nearly five years, our foundation has been seeking to fulfill its original mission: to locate, acquire, renovate and program a multi-use, film and live event theater in the City of San Francisco. Finding a theater that was available, suitable and in a desirable location has been elusive.  However, in the last few weeks, one of the great theater treasures, buried for years in darkness and neglect, has become available and is for sale.  It is The Harding Theatre, on Divisadero at Hayes, and is a wonderful example of the great work of legendary theater architects, The Reid Brothers.  The Metro Theatre Center Foundation is working with The Harding Theatre Collaborative, an emerging partnership of film festival, live performance and community groups who want to turn the Harding into a home for a broad diversity of multi-cultural and neighborhood-based programs.  The foundation is acting in the short term as a fiscal sponsor to raise the needed funds to study what is needed to turn this neglected venue into a bright and shining community resource.

The funds we raise will be used to support the preparation of a core historic structures report for the Harding Theater by preservation architect Mike Garavaglia. The study will identify the historic features of the theater and explore how to successfully integrate desired improvements and necessary technical upgrades for future uses.  It will present ways to capitalize on incentive programs, such as tax credit programs, the California Historic Building Code, and other programs that may become available if the theater's historic character is protected.

*Photo is for illustrative purposes only.

An Invitation to Help Turn on the Lights and Re-Open The Historic Harding Theater

A coalition of community and theater organizations and just plain folks joined the Friends of 1800 at the Planning Commission hearing on Thursday, November 13, to ask the Planning Commission to require an Environmental Impact Report for the Harding Theater “condo conversion project,” being put forward by a group of developers who acquired this amazing theater in 2005. After two hours of testimony, the Commission voted 7-0 to uphold the Friends’ appeal and require an EIR. The next day, the developers announced they would discontinue their efforts to remove the stage and part of the auditorium from the theater for their condos, and put the property on the market.

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The Chris Holter Legacy Awards are administered by The Metro Theater Center Foundation thanks to the generous gifts of the family and friends of Chris Holter, a co-founder of the foundation, The Ora A. Holter Family Trust and the Chris Holter-Ron Merk Family Fund.

After graduating from U.C. Davis in 1973, Chris joined the V.I.S.T.A. program and organized youth centers Iowa where his lifelong interest in the education of young people began. Returning to the Bay Area, he taught high school math and in San Francisco.

In 1980 he and his partner, Ron Merk, moved to Los Angeles where Chris became involved in the motion picture industry with Ron. In 2001, "Marco Polo - Return to Xanadu," an animated feature project that Chris produced, co-wrote the screenplay and song lyrics, qualified for the first-ever Best Animated Feature Academy Award, and was later released by Warner Bros. In 2003 he returned to San Francisco where he was active in politics and the arts, including Film Arts Foundation, film festivals and educational programs.

Diagnosed with melanoma cancer in November of 2003, Chris continued to live one day at a time, always positive and looking toward the future. Before untimely his death on December 27th, 2004, Chris asked his partner, Ron Merk, to establish a number of awards and grants in his name to continue his life's work. The aim of Chris Holter Legacy Awards is to encourage, finance and support the efforts of both young and first-time filmmakers, creating films and videos with unique and important statements about their lives and the world we all inhabit together.

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