Goodbye Galaxy! Goodbye Galaxy! (May 06, 2005)

City's last movie theater faces demolition
by Jeb Bing

Work will start this summer to demolish the long-empty Galaxy 8 Cinema in the Rose Pavilion, which will be replaced by Broyhill Home Collections, a nationally-known furniture maker and retailer.

The Galaxy was built in the late 1980s and, for more than 10 years, was the premier movie theater in the Tri-Valley. It was closed five years ago after Regal Cinema bought the theater and built the IMAX 20-screen super theater at Hacienda Crossings in Dublin.

The city Planning Commission approved the demolition project last week after hearing that efforts to re-start the 18-year-old movie theater or to make use of the existing structure had been unsuccessful. Architect Ware Malcomb of San Ramon said although Broyhill's new sales display center will have the same 28,550-square-foot dimensions as the Galaxy, the theater's poured concrete sloping floor made it too costly to retrofit for the furniture store.

Instead, the Galaxy will be demolished in a weeklong process that will require closing off part of the Rose Pavilion parking lot in front of the theater. Trucks will cart away building materials, using Rosewood Drive to Santa Rita Road and to I-580. Truck traffic will be halted at 3:30 p.m. before rush hour commuter traffic starts.

Donna Decker, the city's Principal Planner, said Broyhill's new retail center, which could open before Christmas, will be a one-story, cream-colored building with large columns in the front and a tower-like entry. A single Broyhill sign would be installed above the entryway. Although the store will have a loading dock for receiving furniture to display at the store, all deliveries to consumers would be made from a Broyhill warehouse in the Bay Area.

In approving the project, planners required, at the insistence of Commissioner Brian Arkin, that Broyhill add a public restroom for family use in addition to the separate restrooms for men and women.

Decker said Broyhill is a North Carolina-based company that was founded in 1905. It is now part of Furniture Brands International, which she said is the world's largest manufacturer of residential furniture. Besides the Broyhill product line, Furniture Brands is the parent company of Lane, Thomasville, Henredon, Drexel Heritage and Maitland-Smith branded furniture products.

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