Winchester Boulevard & the Domes
Winchester Boulevard was once the Santa Clara–Los Gatos Road. Beside the Mystery House, the Century 21 dome opened in 1964 as the first Century theater, and it is being kept as the landmark of Federal Realty’s Santana West.
Discover Winchester Boulevard & the Domes
The lane outside Sarah Winchester’s house was the Santa Clara–Los Gatos Road; after her death it became Winchester Road and then Winchester Boulevard. In the 1960s the Browns’ picnic grounds, Winchester Park, closed and the Century theaters were built. (Wikipedia, Winchester Mystery House)
The Century 21 opened on November 24, 1964, with It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in 70mm. Architect Vincent G. Raney designed it and its neighbors, the Century 22 and 23, and the Century 22 was one of the first theaters to show Star Wars in 1977. (Wikipedia, The Verge)
The domes closed in 2014 when their 50-year lease ran out. After a preservation campaign the Century 21 was made a San Jose city landmark; the Century 22 and 23 and the Flames diner, once a Bob’s Big Boy, have been torn down for the Santana West office campus, which keeps the Century 21 dome. (Cinema Treasures, SFYIMBY)
The surrounding Winchester neighborhood of West San Jose takes its name from Sarah Winchester. (Wikipedia)
Santana Row magic: A main street, a mall and a mansion at one crossroads
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