San Jose Civic

The San Jose Civic (formerly known as the San Jose Civic Auditorium and City National Civic) is a former arena, currently operating as a theatre and concert venue, located in downtown San Jose, California. The venue is owned by the City of San Jose, is managed by Team San Jose^[2] and is booked by Nederlander Concerts.^[3] The auditorium seats 3,036 which can be expanded up to 3,326 in a general admission setting.^[4]

San Jose Civic

Exterior of the Civic & Montgomery Theater in 2017
Former names	San Jose Municipal Auditorium (planning/construction) San Jose Civic Auditorium (1933–2013) City National Civic (2013–19)
Address	135 W San Carlos St San Jose, CA 95113
Location	Downtown San Jose
Coordinates	37.330987°N 121.890168°W / 37.330987; -121.890168
Public transit	Convention Center
Owner	City of San Jose
Operator	Team San Jose Nederlander Concerts
Capacity	3,036
Construction
Broke ground	1934 (1934)
Opened	July 14, 1936 (1936-07-14)
Construction cost	$530,515 ($12.1 million in 2023 dollars[1])
Architect	Binder & Curtis
Project manager	Worley & Company
General contractor	Thomas Construction
Main contractors	Swenson Construction
Tenants
Santa Clara Broncos (NCAA) (1951–75) SJSU Spartans (NCAA) (1961–76, 1979–89) San Jose Diablos (IVA) (1979) San Jose Golddiggers (MLV) (1987–89)
Website
Venue Website
Building details
General information
Renovated	2009-12
Renovation cost	$25 million ($35.5 million in 2023 dollars[1])
Renovating team
Architect(s)	ELS Architecture
Other designers	National Electric Pro Advanced Design Consultants The Shalleck Collaborative BBI Engineering
Main contractor	Garden City Construction

History

The venue was created through a joint venture between the City of San Jose, Public Works Administration and local property owners Mr. and Mrs. T. S. Montgomery, who donated the property.^[5] The building was designed by Binder & Curtis,^[6] in the Spanish Colonial/California Mission Revival style.^[7]

The venue's naming rights were given to City National Bank in December 2013,^[8] with its original name being restored in May 2019.^[9]

The west wing was a convention hall called "Parkside Hall". It opened on September 22, 1977, as the "San Jose Convention Center". It served as the city's main convention center until a new facility of the same name opened across the street in 1989.^[10] The building was demolished in 2009.^[11]

A $25 million renovation of the venue (approved in 2007) was begun in 2009. A state-of-the-art sound and video system was installed, the building's floor was refurbished, an exterior lighting system was activated, and the loading dock was upgraded. Key improvements planned included a top-line interior lighting system, seating upgrades to replace the decades-old plastic molded chairs, more restrooms, and a new concessions program.^[12]

Naming history

• San Jose Municipal Auditorium (1934—April 1936) (planning/construction)
• San Jose Civic Auditorium (July 14, 1936—December 3, 2013)
• City National Civic (December 4, 2013—May 14, 2019)^[13]
• San Jose Civic (May 15, 2019—present)^[14]

Montgomery Theater

The Montgomery Theater in 2024

The "Montgomery Theater" is attached to the east side of the building. Seating 486, it is the primary home of CMT San Jose.^[15]

Notable events

Many of the most popular entertainers and public figures have appeared at the venue creating memorable historic events since its opening in 1936. Barbra Streisand appeared there during her first concert tour in 1963. Bob Dylan and the Hawks played a famous show there on December 12, 1965, and Allen Ginsberg made a tape of it now held by the Stanford University Libraries. Earlier that year the Rolling Stones played a concert there that was attended by Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters who electrified a party afterward reportedly attended by Stones members. Richard Nixon made national headlines during an anti-war demonstration at the San Jose Civic.

It has presented major sporting events including boxing matches with champions such as Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis. The Civic hosted the final day of the GENESIS 3 Super Smash Bros. tournament in January 2016.^[16] It was the venue for the trampoline events of the inaugural World Games I in 1981.

External links

• Team San Jose Facility Information at archive.today (archived April 15, 2013)
• Hermanas Padilla 1935 Concert Poster

References

1. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
2. Van Zandt, Jack (December 20, 2007). "Refurbished Civic Auditorium Requires New Management". San Jose Inside. Metro Newspapers. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
3. "Team San Jose and Nederlander Concerts Partner to Promote and Produce Events at the Historic Civic Auditorium" (Press release). San Jose, California: San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau. PR Web. February 13, 2009. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
4. "San Jose Civic". Visit San Jose. September 7, 2017. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
5. Radhakrishnan, Sachin (May 31, 2012). The New Deal at Work: San Jose's Civic Auditorium (Thesis). De Anza College. Retrieved February 15, 2020 – via Scribd.
6. Dinkelspiel-Cerny, Susan (September 10, 2007). "Santa Clara County". An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. p. 209. ISBN 978-1586854324.
7. Short, C.W.; Stanley-Brown, R. (May 1936). Public Buildings: Architecture Under the Public Works Administration, 1933 to 1939. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. ISBN 0306802651.
8. Druzin, Bryce (December 4, 2013). "San Jose's Civic gets new name with corporate sponsor". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Advance Publications. Archived from the original on September 14, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
9. "San Jose Theaters Unveils New Name And Branding For Historic San Jose Civic". Yahoo! Finance. May 15, 2019. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
10. Historical Evaluation: Museum Place Mixed-Use Project. April 14, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2017. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
11. Singh, Gary (May 5, 2010). "Renovations at San Jose Civic". Metro Active. Metro Newspapers. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
12. Kim, Elizabeth (September 23, 2011). "Historic San Jose Civic Auditorium makes modern-day debut". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Advance Publications. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
13. Pizarro, Sal (December 3, 2013). "A new name for San Jose's Civic Auditorium". East Bay Times. Digital First Media. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
14. "San Jose Theaters Unveils New Name And Branding For Historic San Jose Civic" (Press release). San Jose, California: Visit San Jose. PR Newswire. May 15, 2019. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
15. Pizarro, Sal (March 30, 2018). "How Children's Musical Theater built a cast of thousands". San Jose Mercury News. Digital First Media. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
16. "What Genesis tells us about Smash in 2016". go.com. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2018.