The Dome was so head-and-shoulders above other theaters, we'd drive up from San Ramon in high school to see movies, bypassing our city's brand-new theater. It was where you took a date to impress her. I saw "Star Wars," "Star Trek" and "Jurassic Park" movies there, because there was no way any regular theater could do justice to the special effects the way the Dome could. The last movie I ever saw in a theater with my grandmother was "E.T." at the Dome. In my 20s, I would meet friends at the bar next door, then go see movies such as the director's cut of "Apocalypse Now" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." The opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan" was absolutely mind-blowing on that screen.
And now seeing the marquee, which says the theater is closed, is terribly sad. I promise you, nothing that eventually occupies that spot will create so many wonderful moments. Unless one has a strange attachment to sporting goods