Plans show beloved Santa Rosa movie theater to be replaced by gym

Plans have been filed to turn Summerfield Cinemas in east Santa Rosa into a fitness center, though the immediate impact to operations at the beloved theater remains unclear.

Neighbors around the property received a public notice in the past few days alerting them to a proposed Planet Fitness moving into the site at 551 Summerfield Road across from Howarth Park.

Dan Tocchini, whose company owns and operates the theater but not the property, declined to comment on the proposal or the fate of the theater but said its lease remained active.

“The only thing I can tell you right now is we’re still in lease,” he said in a short phone call Tuesday. “I don’t know what’s going to happen but as of now we’re in lease.”

Attempts to reach the property owner — Lynn Duggan/Duggan Family Limited Partnership — Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The five-screen theater specializes in screening independent and foreign films. Any closure would represent another blow for local cinema buffs. They have held tight to Summerfield and Sebastopol-based Rialto Cinemas amid nationwide contraction in the business, fueled by the dominance of home-streaming services and accelerated in recent years by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tocchini’s company Santa Rosa Entertainment Group took over operations of the Summerfield theater in 2010 after the operator of the former Rialto Cinemas Lakeside lost his bid to stay at the site and relocated to Sebastopol.

The public notice sent to nearby residents states a minor conditional use permit and minor design review permit for a new health and fitness facility were filed with the city.

Online city records show plans were first submitted to the city in September 2023 for “interior remodel of former movie theater building into fitness center.” Exterior work would include a new entry facade and signage.

A separate application for extensive tenant improvements was filed April 25 and is under review.

The proposal will go before the city’s Zoning Administrator for consideration during a hearing 10:30 a.m. May 16, according to the public notice.

It wasn’t immediately known when the Planet Fitness proposed to open and tickets to daily showings were still being sold on the theater’s website along with advanced tickets for events scheduled as far in advance as August.

The Tocchini family has a near-century long history in the theater business in Sonoma County dating to 1926 when Tocchini’s father, Dan Tocchini Sr., built one of the first theaters in Santa Rosa.

They previously operated a theater at the Summerfield location before Rialto Cinemas opened there in 2000. Today they own Roxy Stadium 14 in downtown Santa Rosa, Airport Stadium 12 near Windsor and other locations throughout the state.

Tocchini didn’t say whether he intended to keep the theater open or whether he was working with the property owner to negotiate a way to remain at the site.

He described the business’s lease as long-term and said the company had “several options” but declined to specify when it expired or elaborate on what options he was considering.

He said he anticipated more public information would be available in the coming weeks.

Ky Boyd, owner of Rialto Cinemas, who later relocated the business to Sebastopol, said it would represent a big loss to the community if the theater closed.

He said the public notice was forwarded to him by one of his employees on Monday but he didn’t have any knowledge of an impending closure.

Boyd estimated more than 30 movie screens across the county had been lost with the closure of Rohnert Park’s Reading Cinemas last November and other smaller movie houses in the pandemic.

“That’s a huge impact,” Boyd said. “Those of us that are still lucky enough to still be standing are totally dependent on the public support and if you value movie theaters and want movie theaters to continue you need to go to the movies.”

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @paulinapineda22.