Through renovations, restorations, and origins dating back over a century, the Guild Theater has become a pillar of the Oak Park community, creating connections and memories across Greater Sacramento.
Built in 1915, the theater was originally one of several movie houses that pocketed the Oak Park neighborhood. After being vacated for many years, St. Hope acquired the building in 2003 and brought new life and purpose to the space.
“At the time, it was completely dilapidated. It was boarded up for a number of years,” Adrianne Hall, chief operating officer of St. Hope, said. “When we came in, there were two feet of water down in the front, and everything was pretty much in disrepair.”
The Guild Theater remains the only theater from the early 20th century still standing in Oak Park. While a second renovation in 2020 introduced a bar, music studio, and a new front lobby, St. HOPE has preserved the theater’s original rounded arches and patterned brick exterior.
“Having this black owned theater was really important to us and making sure that we’re retaining culture in this area and bringing in events that are culturally relevant,” Hall said. “Being able to have control over that is what we feel is important for this neighborhood.”
The Guild Theater hosts a variety of free and low-cost events, including monthly movie matinees, an annual film festival, comedy nights, speaker events, and tours. “We try to keep our prices for our events at a lower cost to accommodate the community,” Brandy Dean, St. Hope’s special projects coordinator, said.
Throughout the years, countless notable guests have spoken and hosted events at the theater, including Olympian Allyson Felix, actor Jay Ellis, civil rights activist Al Sharpton, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, former basketball player Isiah Thomas, and Martin Luther King Jr. III.
Unfortunately, some recent events have been cancelled due to low turnout, including Dedrick Weathersby’s Tutti Frutti: A Tribute to Little Richard Concert. However, the theater’s staff hopes to bring the event back. “We have a great relationship with the producer of that event,” Hall said. “We would love, love, love to have him back…we just have to make sure that the timing is right.”
St. Hope, established in 1989 by basketball player and former Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, originated as an after-school program at Sacramento High School. In 2003, the nonprofit expanded to open its own preK-12 independent charter school district. “The purpose of St. Hope is to maintain culture in the Oak Park community,” Hall said.
Hall has been a part of the St. Hope family since 2001, where she assisted in project development, including their public schools and the Guild Theater, and later rejoined in 2016.
Like Hall, the rest of the Guild Theater team has deep ties to St. Hope and Oak Park. Dean interned for St. Hope while in high school before rejoining in 2022.
Dru Burks, who has served as the Guild Theater Manager since 2018, was a St. Hope student in the early 90s. “’I’ve been here since day one, so I’ve seen St. Hope start from back in ’89. But the passion for me coming back is bringing the community together.”
St. Hope also rents out the Guild Theater and its connected outdoor space, Esther’s Park, bringing in a variety of events and crowds, including a church group every Sunday. “You get a melting pot of people that may have never come to Oak Park before, but now feel comfortable and are happy to come to a place in Oak Park and see what we’re doing,” Burks said.
The Guild Theater is part of St. Hope’s 40 Acres Complex, a 22,000 square-foot facility on the corner of Broadway and 35th Street. The space, which gets its name from the unfilled promise of 40 acres and a mule given to formerly enslaved African Americans after the Civil War, serves as a “cultural destination” that incorporates components of everyday life, as Hall described.
The complex includes the theater, Esther’s Park, apartment spaces, coffee shop Old Soul Co., Fixins Soul Kitchen, and barbershop World Class Faders. “It’s really cool to have this complex in Oak Park,” Dean said. “It makes it a hub here for people just to have enjoyment within the community.”
St. HOPE’s bookstore, Underground Books, is also a part of 40 Acres Complex and continues to serve as one of the neighborhood’s few literary destinations, with Oak Park’s library closing in 1993. Opened in 2003 by Kevin Johnson’s mother, Georgia “Mother Rose” West, the bookstore was created to provide for the community and give more access to books and education.
“Mother Rose grew up here in Oak Park and was really passionate about this community, and she wanted to make sure that culture was retained in the neighborhood,” Hall said.
Mother Rose unfortunately passed away in December of 2024, and her mission is still carried on at Underground Books as the bookstore continues to host a series of events, including author talks and youth literacy programs.
The history of the Guild Theater only continues to grow as St. HOPE sets its sights on introducing more community members to the space and its events.
“There are still a lot of people out there that say ‘I never knew this was here,’” Burks said. “Our big thing is to let people know that this theater is here, and it’s been here forever.”
This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics, the city had no editorial influence over this story. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Hmong Daily News, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review and Sacramento Observer. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.
By Sterling Davies
