Escrow is set to close September 29 on the sale of Antioch's nearly century-old El Campanil Theatre to Legendary Movement Church, a Pittsburg-based congregation that has raised a 20% down payment of roughly $306,500 toward the $1.5 million asking price. The pending sale has stirred alarm among Rivertown neighbors who fear the historic stage could lose its identity as the last operating theater venue of its kind in Antioch.
According to the Antioch Herald, the property at 602 W. 2nd Street had been listed online through Vanguard Properties before entering escrow. Legendary Movement Church currently leases space inside the Light the Bay Church facility at 1210 Stoneman Avenue in neighboring Pittsburg, where it holds Sunday services at noon, even though Lead Pastor Eli Herrera lives in Antioch. As reported by NBC Bay Area, Herrera attended a recent community meeting and told residents the church is meant to be “for the city,” not merely located in it, framing the purchase as an effort to support the local area.
That framing has done little to ease worries voiced at the gathering, where community members packed into El Campanil to discuss the impending transition. Resident Lisa Schmidt said the theater is the last local place for music revues and plays, while resident Michelle Fanucchi noted that Antioch residents carry personal memories there, from childhood recitals to first dates, per the same NBC Bay Area account. One community member said people need to be mobilized to learn the theater is being sold at all.
A Landmark Built for Vaudeville, Now in Financial Peril
El Campanil Theatre opened on November 1, 1928, built at a cost of $500,000 in a Spanish Colonial and Spanish Gothic style with 1,100 seats and a Wurlitzer organ, according to Cinema Treasures. Vaudeville-era stars including Roy Rogers, Mary Pickford, and Donald O'Connor once graced its stage, and the theater's Spanish name comes from the exterior arches that house its bells. During 2003-2004 renovations, the auditorium's seating was reduced to 640 seats to improve accessibility and stage layout, and the building today also includes two commercial retail spaces leased to independent storefront businesses in the Rivertown Business District.
The theater fell into financial struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic, per NBC Bay Area's reporting, and revenue shortfalls afterward led the nonprofit El Campanil Theatre Preservation Foundation to sell the real estate to an out-of-state landlord several years ago while remaining as a tenant. Tax disclosures compiled by Cause IQ show the foundation generated $391,222 in revenue against $560,317 in expenses in 2024 while employing 30 staff. Sharon Sobel Idul, the foundation's president, said El Campanil is the last remaining theater in Antioch still operated as a theater.
Rescued Once Before, With Public Money
This isn't the first time El Campanil has faced an existential threat. In 2003, the foundation purchased the venue using a $500,000 grant from Calpine Corporation, $750,000 in Antioch redevelopment funds, and $1 million raised from private donors, according to the Antioch Herald. City leaders and private donors rescued the building then to anchor downtown Antioch's Rivertown Renaissance plan.
More recently, the foundation tried grassroots fundraising to avoid a repeat crisis. Its “Keep the Arts Alive in Antioch” campaign, launched in October 2025 and continuing into early 2026, sought $50,000 in immediate donations and recurring monthly pledges to cover fixed overhead costs, as reported by CC Spin. Through its El Campanil Theatre Academy, the nonprofit has offered more than 20 technical and design courses for youth performers since 2020 and hosts the annual Delta Blues Benefit Concert supporting local music education, per Cause IQ, while also providing part-time technical and box office jobs to local residents.
Foundation Warns Programming May Not Survive Church Ownership
In an August 20 public statement, the foundation said it is unlikely to continue operating arts and theater programming at the facility if the church completes the acquisition, according to ContraCosta.news. The foundation currently operates as a tenant under a lease with the out-of-state building owner. At the community meeting, organizers said the church will not fit into the theater's existing event schedule, and that external events booked at the venue will need to adapt to the new owner's calendar once church services and events take priority after the purchase closes.
The current owner hopes to finalize the sale by October, and Legendary Movement Church is in escrow to purchase the building outright. City officials have said no public or private buyers came forward to match the $1.5 million valuation before the church entered escrow, according to ContraCosta.news. Antioch City Council members Don Freitas, Tamisha Torres-Walker, and Monica Wilson have intermittently discussed municipal intervention or support for El Campanil over the past two years, but no official public action or funding item has ever been placed on a council agenda.
With escrow scheduled to close September 29, community members who gathered at the theater say the clock is running out to change course. For many in Rivertown, the fight isn't just about a building sale — it's about whether Antioch keeps its last stage for music revues, plays, and the kind of local memories residents like Fanucchi and Schmidt say can't be replaced.
