Bay Area residents take note: the Palo Alto Square Theatre has received an eviction notice from their landlord, Equity Office Properties. This is the theatre on the corner of El Camino Real and Page Mill which shows excellent non-mainstream films (and is currently showing the almost mainstream “Crouching Tiger..”). Equity tried to evict the theatre in 1996, but the public fought back successfully. They have been in a month-to-month situation since then. The theatre is one of the most successful in the Landmark chain. According to the Landmark Northern California district manager: “There’s not a theater in the United States that pays market rate for rents. Landlords either want to be in the movie theater business and contribute to the culture of the country or they want to make a buck.” The complex is zoned for a theatre, so I don’t know how Equity plans to get more money by evicting a paying business and letting the site sit idle. Surely they weren’t losing money on it? Are they going to replace it with a higher grossing chain? Or battle the zoning and try for office space? Have they seen all those “for lease” signs appearing up and down El Camino Real? A Save the Square web site has been set up where patrons are encouraged to send their comments to Equity.