Garden Theatre

This would be a lovely addition to the thriving Willow Glen community if it were still a movie theater, as it is located on Lincoln Avenue amid the hustle-bustle of daily business, but has unfortunately been turned into a rather glaringly ugly reminder of the hack commercialism of small-time businesses exploiting these old edifices with garish advertising at the expense of the arts. The Garden is but a hollow shell of its former self, and a sad loss for Willow Glen, a community proud of its historic heritage of old Victorians and stylish old homes within San Jose, which has its own downtown apart from San Jose's new high rise downtown.

I grew up in Willow Glen just a few short minutes from my favorite movie house in San Jose California. The Garden was wonderful in every aspect of its design. I remember seeing PT109 with LILLIES
OF THE FIELD on my 9th birthday at The Garden! They always ran double feature programs that included a cartoon and previews.
You always knew what opened every WEDNESDAY at THE GARDEN because
they changed shows weekly. The Garden always played the MGM
pictures exclusively in San Jose. Even when the Syufy Theatres
started their take over of the San Jose Market, they could not
prevent The Garden from playing Day and Date (at the same time)
with their new, giant dome theaters. The Garden always played
to big crowds and packed houses. The original owner, Ben Levin
of General Theatrical Theaters sold the house to a hispanic operator.

The neighborhood was upscale and classy - deserving of art and
foreign films or even First Run. As a local resident, Hispanic
movies never fit as the audience had to drive from the East Side
of San Jose to patronize this venue. But, money talks and that, I am sure made the decision for Mr. Levin to sell to the new owner.
I miss the place so so much.
There are times when I visit California that I buy a hamburger, fries
and shake and just park across the street from its facade and dream
of the early 60's and my many bike rides to the Garden Theater.

The address for the Garden Theatre is 1165 Lincoln Ave., San Jose,m Ca., 95125

I was in the Garden a few times as a kid. I remember the balcony especially, and the seats up there rocked! Literally! This was more luxurious than anything the downtown theatres could offer. I agree with Howie T that Spanish language films were a mismatch for this theatre, considering its location in a more upscale part of town, and the theatre itself being an anchor for the bustling Lincoln Avenue business district. I still do not understand why the people of Willow Glen, activists that so many of them are, could not prevent the destruction of this theatre down to a shell of its former self. This would have been a perfect venue for independent and art-house films and the yuppie types that live near it would have packed the place. I will never stop shaking my head over the loss of this theatre. I think it would have been a cinch to prevent, but nobody seemed to care. If the Fox/California could be saved in a downtown dead zone, then there's no reason the Garden couldn't have been saved in a thriving business district. Shame on all Willow Glen residents who sat by and let this happen.

This link has a number of modern photos of the former Garden Theater. Click each photo to expand it.

1984 Photo

1984 Photo

1986 Photo

1986 Interior

Here is a recent photo.

Here are two more 1986 night photos:

Photo1

Photo2