These photos of the Empress/St. Francis show a facade that became quite contentious in the past few years. When developers purchased the St. Francis Theatre and surrounding buildings and made plans to erect a modern glass and steel retail structure, some San Francisco locals protested the demolition of the historic facades.
As this 2013 SF.Curbed article shows, however, their complaints were not successful.
(credit: American Theatre Architecture Archive, Theatre Historical Society of America)
