Spreckels Theatre

Architect Harrison Albright designed the Spreckels Theatre, which opened Aug. 23, 1912, with George Broadhurst's "Bought and Paid For," imported directly from Broadway for the occasion. Old-timers tell about the night "Ben Hur" was staged at the Spreckels, with actors and horses rushing out the Second Avenue stage entrance and racing back onstage through the First Avenue entrance. The theater boasts 1,915 seats, a number that salutes the Panama-California Exposition year.