A restoration team hired by the theater’s new management company Another Planet Entertainment is working to overhaul its century-old interior, removing cigarette stains and, in some spots, cleaning 2 inches of caked-on grime. Mary Conde, a senior vice president of Another Planet, gave The Standard an exclusive tour this week, escorting two reporters up a makeshift ladder to a platform supported by scaffolding some 45 feet above the orchestra, barely 15 feet beneath the ceiling.
From that vantage point, the Castro almost looks like a 16th-century church. Up close, the viewer sees astonishing details—things the movie-watching public would have had to squint to view, even with the house lights on. Intricately carved angels crown the chambers that contain the Mighty Wurlitzer organ pipes while hand-etched faces in the “sgraffito” style line the walls, a testament to architect Timothy Pflueger’s commitment to craftsmanship.
