Crest Theater
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Crest Theater
1013 K St, Sacramento, CA 95814
About Crest Theater -
The Crest Theatre is a historic theater located in downtown Sacramento, just blocks from the State Capital, the Sacramento Convention Center, and the Golden 1 Center. It was originally opened in 1912 as the Empress Theatre, a vaudeville palace. It later operated as the Hippodrome theatre and in 1949, the building was completely remodeled and revamped to its current form as the art deco Crest Theatre. During the 1950s and 1960s, it was one of the premier first-run movie palaces in the Sacramento area. In the 1970s, it was reduced to mostly sub-run fare and eventually closed in the early 1980s.
In 1993 a fire in the neighboring building caused some smoke damage but spared the theatre. The fire insurance settlement, combined with redevelopment grants provided by the City of Sacramento, paid for most of the restoration of the historic theatre. The restoration continued in 2009, including refurbishment of the brilliant neon marquee. The theater is currently undergoing a modernization project that includes conversion of the basement screening rooms into an on-site full service restaurant (Empress Tavern), installation of high speed internet for the ticketing system, structural upgrades to support concert sound and lighting systems and installation of DCP compliant digital movie projection. The theater remains operational during this on-going project, hosting community events, concerts, and exhibiting foreign and independent films.