San Jose Civic

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. The building was designed by Binder & Curtis, in the Spanish Colonial/California Mission Revival style.

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

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. The building was demolished in 2019.

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.

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)
• San Jose Civic (May 15, 2019—present)

Montgomery Theater

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

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. It was the venue for the trampoline events of the inaugural World Games I in 1981.

References

References

1. (December 20, 2007). "Refurbished Civic Auditorium Requires New Management". [[Metro Newspapers]].
2. . (February 13, 2009). ["Team San Jose and Nederlander Concerts Partner to Promote and Produce Events at the Historic Civic Auditorium"](http://www.prweb.com/releases/san_jose/civic_auditorium/prweb2045264.htm). *San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau*.
3. Radhakrishnan, Sachin. (May 31, 2012). "The New Deal at Work: San Jose's Civic Auditorium". De Anza College.
4. Dinkelspiel-Cerny, Susan. (September 10, 2007). "An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area". [[Gibbs Smith]].
5. (December 4, 2013). "San Jose's Civic gets new name with corporate sponsor". Advance Publications.
6. . (May 15, 2019). ["San Jose Theaters Unveils New Name And Branding For Historic San Jose Civic"](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/san-jose-theaters-unveils-name-140000566.html).
7. (April 14, 2016). "Historical Evaluation: Museum Place Mixed-Use Project".
8. (May 5, 2010). "Renovations at San Jose Civic". Metro Newspapers.
9. (September 23, 2011). "Historic San Jose Civic Auditorium makes modern-day debut". [[Advance (company).
10. (December 3, 2013). "A new name for San Jose's Civic Auditorium". [[Digital First Media]].
11. . (May 15, 2019). ["San Jose Theaters Unveils New Name And Branding For Historic San Jose Civic"](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/san-jose-theaters-unveils-new-name-and-branding-for-historic-san-jose-civic-300850284.html). *Visit San Jose*.
12. (March 30, 2018). "How Children's Musical Theater built a cast of thousands". Digital First Media.
13. (21 January 2016). "What Genesis tells us about Smash in 2016".