Crunch Polk Street isn’t just one of the most beautiful gyms in the world. It’s also a historical landmark, nearly a century old. The Crunch Fitness at 2330 Polk Street in San Francisco, California, occupies the former Alhambra Theatre, an ornate movie palace that dates back to the silent film era. In fact, movies still play on a big screen there. This is the incredible story of how the Alhambra got Crunched.
ALHAMBRA THEATRE
The Alhambra Theatre opened on November, 5, 1926 when movies were still mute and when movie theaters were truly palaces. The exterior was designed to resemble a Moorish castle with twin turrets. Inside, on the main floor and balcony were 1625 seats and everywhere were intricate art deco design details. Most spectacular was the kaleidoscopic domed ceiling. Music from the organ was piped up to that dome where it flowed over the spectators watching the screen. The Alhambra cost $500,000 ($9 million today).
The theater transitioned to the sound era just a few years after opening and weathered a 1930 terrorist bombing attempt. It played Hollywood films for decades. The chairs were cushioned with red velvet. A massive, curved CinemaScope screen was installed in the 1950s, obscuring much of the incredible proscenium arch.
By the 1970s, as shopping malls and multiplexes proliferated in the suburbs, urban movie palaces were dying off. A lucky few were transformed into live performance venues. Some became churches. Most were gutted or leveled, their valuable city spaces used for stores or apartments. The Alhambra tried its best to remain a movie theater—or two. In 1973, it was divided via a cinder block wall into twin theaters, each with a screen to double the possibility of attracting patrons to two different movies. A crime against design: A plaster board ceiling concealed the magnificent dome, the theater’s signature feature. The sound from one movie bled into the other. Paint peeled. Younger attendees failed to notice the Alhambra was once a palace.
In 1988, the ugly wall and makeshift ceiling were removed and the elaborate, long-neglected interior, was restored. It was again a one-screen movie theater. The Alhambra was back, but modern movie-goers didn’t know what a movie palace was, and the scarcity of parking had long been a problem. The theater was designated a San Francisco landmark in 1996, protecting it from a wrecking ball or disfiguring renovations. After 72 years, the Alhambra Theatre closed on February 22, 1998.
GORILLA SPORTS
What becomes of a movie palace—a historical landmark, no less—that no longer shows movies? For two years, the Alhambra collected dust and cobwebs. But in 2000, it was leased by the small gym chain, Gorilla Sports. The seats were removed, the ground floor was leveled, and weights and cardio machines were moved into the 13,000-foot building. “Our intention is to keep the décor true to what it is,” David Fox, the founder of Gorilla Sports, said. The movie screen remained and videos were shown on it via rear-projection. Parking wasn’t a major issue as Gorilla Sports drew members from nearby residents.
CRUNCH POLK STREET
Gorilla Sports folded. Crunch Fitness is a major gym chain. It moved into the old Alhambra Theatre in 2006. Crunch, like Gorilla, and as required by the building’s historical status, has kept most of the Alhambra’s décor. Fresh paint matches the original shades. The lighting, much from original fixtures, is movie-theater dim but highlights the stupendous ceiling dome and other interior flourishes. Some original seats remain in the balcony, and movies (with subtitles) still play on the screen for those sweating out their cardio. The rich history and stunning interior are major selling points for new members.
“I think, overall, it’s an ideal situation,” local theater historian Jack Tillmany said, “It serves a purpose. It’s alive and well. It’s being used by people, and they can see what it once was.”
