Historic Bay Area movie theater gets a full renovation — and a modern twist

BRENTWOOD – Doreen Pierce Forlow remembers the distinct smell of the movies from years gone by – the freshly popped popcorn oozing with real butter, the chocolate candies and even the slightly chemical smell of the big film reels.

Forlow grew up in Brentwood’s downtown art deco-style Delta Theater, which her family bought in 1955 and owned and operated for nearly two decades. She saw all the classics — “The Ten Commandments,” “Ben-Hur,” “Hercules” and many more – and she’s anxious to see the nearly 100-year-old movie palace reopen after a four-year closure.

“There’s a whole big difference between a 50-inch screen in your house and a screen at the movie theater – a huge difference,” said Forlow, now an East Contra Costa Historical Society museum archivist. “When I see people watch movies on their phone, I go, ‘Why don’t you just watch it on a postage stamp?’ The bigger the screen, the better for me.”

Forlow will soon get her wish, as Sean McCauley and partner Ron Harrison and their crew work feverishly to restore the 1937-era movie theater at 641 First St. for a late May opening. Despite competition from other movie houses, such as the 14-screen theater at the Streets of Brentwood shopping center several miles away, local redevelopers believe the restored iconic two-screen theater will be a big draw.

“We didn’t really want to buy it, but the former owners weren’t going to put a lot of money into that particular building,” McCauley said of his 2019 purchase. “We knew it was the anchor of downtown Brentwood, and that’s the only building that brings 1,000 people a day, on a weekend, to downtown.”

But McCauley, who by himself and with Harrison, has bought and renovated some 10 buildings downtown, said refurbishing and reopening the theater makes sense “to keep the momentum” of “businesses thriving there.”

With chain and other retail stores locating elsewhere, Brentwood’s city center was “more of a ghost town” until it started to turn into “a more social area,” starting in 2016 with upscale restaurants like Zephyr’s Grill and Bar in a building he had refurbished, he said.

“The downtown district is a social district now, and we’re seeing a lot of downtown districts such as Martinez and even San Francisco, Antioch and now Brentwood, turning that way,” he said. “Back when I was a kid, it was more retail.”

McCauley, though, acknowledged the timing turned out to be tough as the COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly after he bought the theater, then-called Cinelux Delta Cinema, which was forced to close in 2020.

“We got hit with this perfect storm of of bad,” he said. “We had to do a humongous remodel, and with COVID, the city was closed down and the operator bailed.”

McCauley said that the pandemic changed movie-going and the former operator has since then “been instrumental in helping us open back up again.” Even so, McCauley and his partner decided to operate the new movie house themselves, though they did hire someone to direct the day-to-day operations.

“Netflix, Prime Video and streaming killed the theater after COVID,” he said. “The movie industry is way different than it is today. The theater business is definitely not what it was.”

McCauley, though, is optimistic that things will be different in Brentwood because of all the support he’s received so far from residents.

“The difference is we’re trying to keep our prices low, there’s that whole charm of Brentwood and the old-town charm of that particular theater,” McCauley said. “We’ve seen legitimately, like, crazy-good support from Brentwood residents.”

Tickets will range from $8 to $12, depending on the seat and whether there’s a student or senior discount, while Tuesdays — as in the past — will also be reserved for bargain-priced movies, he said.

As for renovations, McCauley said he has tried to keep “the old-town, old-school vibe of this particular theater” even as they install a variety of new, high-end vinyl reclining seats along with non-reclining ones, duet romantic seats for couples, new screens, a state-of-the-art digital sound system and all-new digital equipment. They even took over the space from an adjacent former candy store to add “beautiful, new modern bathrooms,” he said.

“We did a lot of research on what it was like, but then we put the really cool amenities that we have in theaters today,” McCauley said of the now 200-seat venue.

Perhaps the pièce de résistance, though, is the renovation of the foyer back to its open-air design and restoration of the marquee and the green “Delta” sign with neon pink lights to their 1937 splendor, which alone cost more than $100,000 and detailed work from numerous contractors, the owner said.

“Our biggest concern was just how it looked back when we were kids, back when I came here in 1970,” McCauley said. “I just wanted it to look like more the way it was originally built, so we took out that front door area that they put in in the ‘90s and we opened back up to be more original.”

Josh Caudle, hired to handle day-to-day theater operations, said he’s been impressed with McCauley’s dedication to restore the art deco theater back to its original 1930s’ look.

“If we had kept it the other way (with a closed foyer), I would have had more lobby space; I could have generated more dollars per square foot,” Caudle said, noting McCauley was more interested in authentic restoration. “I love that that was the first thing that he prioritized.”

“In terms of the entire experience, there’s going to be some nice aesthetic touches that you just don’t see anywhere else,” Caudle said.

Gold curtains also have been added to the theater’s stage, which will also be available for fundraisers, comedy shows, theatrical events and talks by local film celebrities, he said.

“Well just try a lot of different stuff,” Caudle said. “Basically, it’s not just movies anymore.”

In the early days, that was also the case, Forlow said. Her mother, Rose Pierce, a Spanish speaker, made sure she included Mexican films and entertainment. She remembers mariachi groups and other Mexican entertainers performing at the Delta, including the immensely popular film star Cantinflas and exotic dancer Tongolele (Yolanda Montes).

“We had a lot of farm laborers back then and we catered to their entertainment,” she said.

In the 1950s, The Great Toussaint, a master hypnotist and magician entertained there. Forlow claimed that her father had to call him back from Stockton after a show when he found a woman still hypnotized in the back of the dark theater at the end of the night.

Though the new Delta Theater doesn’t have magic or hypnotist shows planned, it might seem like a step back in time for theatergoers when they watch some of the decades-old cartoons  — including the original Superman series — Caudle has planned before the movies and during the Saturday farmers markets.

And, then there’s the food, which will have a modern touch, with items such as homemade pizza, panini sandwiches, pretzels and at least a handful of gourmet items on the menu, McCauley said. Anthony Roost of Attraversiamo, a Brentwood farm-to-table restaurant, is designing the locally sourced menu, he said. Wine and beer – all of it local – also will be served, he said.

Of course, there will be popcorn. Caudle said it will be prepared in a high-end popping machine with a tumbler to evenly coat the kernels with hot butter in a variety of flavors, including red-hot Ghost Pepper Popcorn.

“We’re really not going cheap on anything in there,” McCauley said of the $15,000 popcorn machine.