photo credit: Bryce Dow-Williamson, The Lost Church Santa Rosa
The new location of The Lost Church Santa Rosa is opening in April 2026.

The Lost Church Santa Rosa closed in November 2024 but will soon reopen a few blocks from its original location in the downtown area.

The venue is a sister theater to the original Lost Church, which opened in San Francisco in 2011. Bryce Dow-Williamson is the operations director, and he says the new spot is appropriate:

“It is connected to the Glaser Center which used to be a movie theater years and years ago,” said Dow-Williamson. “It's currently where the Universalist Unitarians do their church. So it is a fun little irony to be connected to an alternative church. It took a lot of work to try to find a space that could work for us. Music venues are different than most other businesses.”

Previously, The Lost Church Santa Rosa was in a garage in the Press Democrat building and struggled to work fully as a theater and concert venue in that space.

“I'm excited that we have two bathrooms with three stalls in total and now we also have four walls,” Dow-Williamson said. “So between the two bathrooms and four walls, that's one more of each than we had in the last space.”

Dow-Williamson says that despite being closed for more than 6 months, donors have continued to support the venue as it worked to find a new space and reopen. He says those who remember the old site will find it still has the same charm.

“It was a small little movie theater space years and years ago and it'll be something that'll be a pleasant surprise for everybody that knew our old space and still has the same kind of vibe and theme,” said Dow-Williamson. “It's all very burgundy and brown and gold and has all the old black and white photos on the wall that are a combination of historic Sonoma County photos as well as San Francisco and Oakland and Bay area stuff.”

Small venues need to be creative at solving issues, says Dow-Williamson.

“Part of the other adventure of course is that trying to make a room that's mostly concrete walls sound okay acoustically is fun and making sure that you're not getting that ping-pong sound if you clap. The big curtains help with that and then actually have… I sourced different sound treatment from a friend's old recording studio and they had gotten it actually from Skywalker Ranch,” said Dow-Williamson. “So it's fun to have some of the, a little history on the walls too.”

The first official concert is happening at the end of April, featuring a local favorite.

“On the 24th we'll be our first proper show,” said Dow-Williamson. “That'll be a really great local group called Solid Air with a fellow named Jeff Falconer opening.”

Clip from Beautiful World by Solid Air

“The week before that we're going to do an open house on the 17th and just for people to kind of come see the space,” Dow-Williamson said. “And then I'll open up my books, and we can start reserving some dates for bands and people that are interested in playing.”

Dow-Williamson says The Lost Church is an intimate space for performers because the priority is on listening and being dialed in to what is happening on stage.

“The community wants something like this and that there's a need for a space that really focuses on the stage more than the bar and that also you can experience lovely music and entertainment without ear plugs and still get all of it,” said Dow-Williamson.

The address for The Lost Church Santa Rosa is 545 Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa.