$1 million project works to improve handicap access

It may look like a war zone, but those working to restore Mill Valley's venerable Sequoia Theater say it'll be ready in time for the city's film festival. "If you go down there, you will see an army of contractors - and their subcontractors and their subcontractors - coming in and out of there," said Greg Kerwin, spokesman for Plath & Co., the general contractor working the $1 million project. 'We will be working right up to the wire, but it will be done."

The film festival kicks off Oct. 7 and moviegoers will see a lot of changes at the Throckmorton Avenue landmark owned by The Pacific Theater Corp.

‘The lobby will be much more spacious than what was there before,’ said Arnie Lerner, architect on the project. ‘The false ceiling has been taken out as well, allowing the original architecture to be seen.’

The changes were primarily to make the theater, built in 1929, wheelchair-accessible. The ticket booth, concession counter, phones and drinking fountain have been redesigned for wheelchair accessibility. Renovated restrooms, a hydraulic lift to both 400-seat movie rooms and seating for the disabled are also new.

There will also be a new marquee and entrance, fresh colors and architectural lighting, and banners for use during the film festival and other special events. The wall between the two movie rooms will be redone to prevent sound from bleeding through.

The new marquee will be based on the original cast iron design. The bottom of the marquee in the original theater was 11 feet above the pavement. The recreated design will allow the marquee to line up with the adjacent shop roof and the ceiling inside the theater.

Many of the neon lights will be stripped from the marquee and replaced with architectural lighting. When the Sequoia originally opened, it replaced the Hub Theater, Mill Valley's main movie house that mostly showed silent movies, but eventually brought in 'talkies."

‘Pacific Theater really did a nice job here,’ architect Lerner said. ‘I think people will be excited with what they see.’