Grandview Theater

The address for the Grandview Theatre is 1247 Grandview Ave., Columbus, Oh.

This theatre is actually located not within the City of Columbus, but rather in the adjoining suburb of Grandview Heights.

Ron, actually it is right on the border of Marble Cliff and Grandview Heights, depending on which side of the street your on. But it is still the Columbus metro area.

A photo of Theodore Lindenberg standing in the Grandview's projection booth. The accompanying description identifies Lindenberg as founder of the Bexley Theatre, which sadly has been demolished.

According to the Columbus Dispatch (Dispatch.com) online archives, the Grandview reopened as an independent second-run house on Wednesday, March 25, 1987, two months later than planned. It had last shown movies some time in the 1960s.

The Drexel Theatre group briefly programmed the Grandview as an art house from late October, 1988 to May, 1989, but it then returned to second runs. It closed as an independent theatre during the third weekend of May, 1992, then reopened as the Drexel Grandview on Saturday, May 8, 1993.

This theatre also shows the OSU games which are free admission. But the concessions do well.

Also Desperate Housewives parties on Sundays.

HDTV267,

I think you are mixing up the ARENA GRAND downtown with the DREXEL GRANDVIEW. The OSU games and other attractions are shown at the ARENA GRAND next to Nationwide Arena. To my knowledge, Grandview has never shown an OSU game.

Here is a vintage photo of the Grandview Theater. At no extra charge, there are also vintage photos of the Arlington and Boulevard Theaters. I don't know if those two theaters are listed on here.

This is a recent photo of the Drexel Grandview Theater. Here is a website for this theater.

Here is another photo of the Drexel Grandview Theater.

Some interior shots of the Grandview:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/achangeinscenerymovies/2395580719/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/achangeinscenerymovies/2395580237/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/achangeinscenerymovies/2396414426/in/photostream/

The Drexel Grandview will close on September 27, 2008. The theatre has been operating at a loss and without a lease for some time. Offers to purchase the building were rejected by the current owner.

Jeff & Kathy Frank will continue to operate the 3-screen Drexel Theatre in Bexley OH.

I'm sorry to hear this. Drexel seems to be shrinking as a chain, having shed the Arena Grand and Gateway as well.

Who will take over the Grandview?

According to the article, the owner has no plans for the building. I doubt anyone else would even try to make a go if it in there. I don't see anyone wanting a single screen.

I'll post if I hear anything about the space. Restaurants do well in that area, and that space could work for a nice place.

Could it work as a live theatre? Does it have a real stage?

Here's the Columbus Dispatch article.

If yesterday was the theatre's 82nd anniversay, as the Dispatch article states, then the descrption above is incorrect ('Originally opened in 1938')

There is no stage, nor room for a backstage. Honestly, I don't see how that theatre could be chopped up into smaller rooms...it isn't that big to start with. ALso, the acoustics are NOT good in that room, as it is very hard to understand some dialog in there...I saw a British film there once with heavy accents, and it was almost impossible to understand what was going on.

There are a number of very successful restaurants very close by...perhaps the owner is hoping for a restaurant in that space. Wall off the back for a kitchen and put tables toward the front.

There actually is a stage, and space behind the screen. I think that it could host live theatre, with a little creativity and some changes to the current design.

I agree with Mark L, the idea of twinning it seems unbelievable, especially with the acoustics... That area of Grandview Heights is so special to people, and the residents so involved, I am sure the theatre will be reincarnated somehow.

I don't think there was any plan to twin the auditorium itself. It's more likely that the Franks were hoping to purchase the other storefronts, nay the entire land parcel, from its current owner, and convert those into small screening rooms.

A sad day. I was working for the Franks when they first acquired the theatre, and saw all the beautiful renovation they did to the place, and worked many long, proud hours at the theatre when it reopened. I may be hundreds of miles away now, but I'm going to miss it all the same.

Meheuck is probably right in thinking that the storefronts would be converted. That is the only expansion option that makes any sense.

I believe the Grandview opened in '26. The Drexel opened in '38. The Grandview (having opened two months before the Palace) is the oldest surviving theatre in Columbus.

I would also take with a grain of salt some of the information being distributed about the "whys" of the decision.

The Southern Theatre is older than either the Grandview or the Palace, though it no longer shows movies. The Lincoln may also be older than the Grandview.

Regarding the two store rooms on either side of the theatre...I looked the property up on the County Auditor site and did some measuring. Looks like those rooms are 16' wide and 40' long. You COULD put a screening room in there, but after you take out space for a booth and screen/speakers, you aren't left with much.

Oh, and for the record, the county auditor site lists the property being built in 1923.

Does that mean it was used for some other purpose for three years before becoming a theatre?

SOrry, when I was writing "theatre" I was doing so in the context of functioning movie theatres. Which is why I didn't count the Southern.

Ron,

I'm wondering the same re: the 1923 date. Maybe that's when ground was broken for it?

Otherwise, as you ask, what did it do for three years? Another theatre before the Grandview in that house?

-David

Does anyone out there know what the original interior was like before the construction of the new retail space/main lobby? Any pictures of the (original) interior?

-David

If you've been to the Grandview, you may have seen "Beauregard", the parrot (or some other kind of tropical bird) painted on the wall between the box office door and the door that leads to the projection booth ladder. Apparently the lobby was painted with elaborate murals with a tropical setting, and was painted over sometime, leaving only Beauregard as a reminder of once was.

Unfortunately I do not have more specific details or any good photographs... I may have one somewhere with Beauregard in the background, I'll share if I come across one.

Beauregard is the name given to the parrot by the employees of the Drexel Grandview shortly after it reopened in 1993. During the renovation before it opened as a Drexel theater, the existing murals were all painted over except the parrot. Not sure when they were originally done.

The theater used to be used for vaudeville, so one would assume there is/was a dressing room area, though I never saw it when I worked there. There is a stage, currently used for storage.

I noticed the last time I was over that way that there is a door to the backstage area.

The Grandview is closing Sept 27th.

Speaking as a former employee who worked at both the Drexel Grandview and the Drexel East, it is terribly sad that the Grandview location will be closing at the end of this week. The Drexel Grandview holds many happy memories for me, and I will miss being able to go to movies there.

A little history about the Grandview Theatre: the building houses the oldest movie theatre in the state of Ohio (not to be confused with the Ohio or Palace Theaters which hold mainly live performances). The Grandview Theatre was not always a Drexel; it was not until 1988 that the Franks aquired the lease, and it was a second run theatre until 1993 when the Franks decided to make it into an art house.

The original theatre had no concession area, and seating went all the way back to the arch, near where the box office is currently located. The original box office was in the foyer where there is now a big black square. There is a backstage area; however, it is not large enough to accomodate live performances. The area in back of the screen is currently used for storage, but even without all of the items in the back of the screen, space is minimal. There is also a second door to the left of the screen, but that only leads to the boiler room, and would be of no use to anyone looking for extra space.

There was a point when the Franks were contemplating the addition of another screen. The additional screen was going to be located in one of the storefronts next to the theatre, but the plans were never finalized. I can say, with confidence, that building a second screen in one of the storefronts would have been a bad idea as those stores are very small. Had the addition been built, the second screen theatre would have been smaller than the smallest theatre at the Drexel East (very cramped).

I don't know what Mrs. Stoltz has in mind for the beloved Grandview theatre, but she is evidently not willing to sell the property. I also doubt that she will raze the theatre as the Ohio Historical Society might step in to save the historic building. I had hoped by now that it would have been added to the list of historic places in Ohio, but as far as I know it has not. I truly hope that someone takes the initiative to repair it and keep it around for generations beyond ours can enjoy the theatre as well.

The Strand in Delaware was opened in April of 1916.

In an email to Drexel patrons sent Friday afternoon, 9/26/08, Jeff Frank announced "Because of the severe storms last week and the loss of power at both our theatres and café, and the fact that many people were without power, we decided it would be best to postpone our Grand Closing Event for Drexel Grandview. We are currently working on keeping the theatre open for a few additional weeks so we can plan this event and we're still trying to work out a way to keep the theatre open longer."

Showtimes through October 2, 2008 are now up on the web site, so they will be open at least one additional week.

The theatre will close on September 30, 2008. This email was sent to Drexel Email subscribers:

Dear DREXEL Family,

It is with heavy hearts that we have to announce that tonight, September 30, 2008, will be the last night of movies at the Drexel Grandview Theatre.

After the windstorm that closed the Drexel East and Radio Café for most of five days, we tried hard; but unsuccessfully, to reach
agreement with the Grandview property owner so that we could keep the theatre open for a closing night party. Jeff and I will be at the Grandview tonight to say goodbye to any who come in, gather a few things, and secure the building until we can pack up the bulk of the theatre equipment and move it out in the next few days. We express our deep gratitude to all of you who have shared your Drexel Grandview stories, sent sad but good wishes, and even made offers of services in behalf of possibly keeping the theatre open.

Let us look on the brighter side. We have heard from so many of you and benefited so much personally from your good will. Our Drexel 3-screen theatre and Radio Café are alive and well. We have lots of programming and operational goals to accomplish in the very next few weeks so that we may continue to bring independent film and events to Columbus. We can certainly use all of your help.

We hope you will visit us at the Drexel Theatre in Bexley, even though it may not be the movie theatre closest to your home. We need lots of support and help to thrive at our business in this very difficult economic time.

Accept our heartfelt thanks and please, please continue to visit the Drexel Theatre and Radio Café. Feel free to share your ideas and thoughts with us directly through response to info@drexel.net

Warm Regards,

Jeff and Kathy Frank

The Grandview Theatre (né Drexel Grandview né Grandview Theatre) is expected to resume programming early 2009. My wife and I will be the new operators. We'd like to open sooner, but there is a lot of cleanup and renovation to be done.

David Nedrow

David,

Nice to hear you are taking on the Grandview. I wish you the best of luck.

Are you planning on adding screens? Upgrading equipment? Improving acoustics?

Mark L

David,

That's great! I am so pleased to hear that new life will be brought into that wonderful place. Here is a link to a page from a book ("Ticket To Paradise", out of print but available at half.com for a decent price) that featured the Grandview: http://www.achangeinscenery.com/grandview1.jpg

Perhaps Cinema Treasures can remove the "Drexel" from this page, as it is not the name of the theatre, "Grandview" is.

Will you be presenting just movies, or also live entertainment?

Mark L,

No screen additions. There is ZERO way to add screens that would be any larger than what people could do at home. Even using the adjoining storefront(s) might give you screens with 50 seats. The size of the auditorium has been diminished once in the past, so I wouldn't want to take any space there. We'll just have to work hard to keep people coming to the single screen. ;)

We WILL be upgrading equipment. We will be running archive prints, so we'll be installing a matched pair with vertical feed and take-up. In the short term, I may work something out with Jeff, but the stuff is in bad shape at this point and I would have to rebuild the Simplex at a minimum. I've got RFIs out now to Strong, Kinoton, Christie. The acoustics are the number one issue for me. As you know, they're awful. I often have trouble with dialog, and that is a frequent complaint from friends.

Kind of going back to the "adding screans" bit, a better use of one of the storefronts would be new men's and women's rooms. We would use the existing women's room as a unisex handicapped bathroom. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Grandview Theatre, the "men's room" is actually a "man's room" and neither bathroom has accommodation for wheelchairs.

Monika,

Thanks for the jpeg. My wife and I were looking for decorating ideas at our metro library and came across that book. It's the first color picture of the exterior I've seen prior to the marquee being removed. I'm still hoping to track down someone in the neighborhood with a color picture of the marquee in good shape.

I'm with you re: the page for this theatre. I'll ask if CT can swap names for 7763 -- IE "Grandview Theatre" (also known as Drexel Grandview).

Ron,

No plans for live entertainment for now, as there isn't much of a stage. Maybe the occasional tie-in with a movie. We would like to expand the stage out a bit toward the first row of seats. I need to check sight-lines as to whether that is workable.

David

Here's an article on the Grandview's renovation.

David Nedrow is spending $50,000 of his savings to reopen the theater.

I hope to have daily updates posted to...

https://grandviewtheatre.net/wordpress/

Here's another article on Grandview's renovation.

A friend of mine has a Wurlitzer theater organ of about 8 or 9 ranks. It's possible that parts of this instrument came from the organ that used to be in the Grandview.

Hey David, a friend of the Doughboy here. Good luck with your endeavor.

Has this theatre reopened yet?

Update...

We are still working on the renovation of the theatre. Just this past week, we received the construction drawings and hope to finalize them so that they can go for permitting the last week of May.

We're probably looking at the last week of August, 2009, or the first two weeks of September, 2009, for the opening.

I update the theatre blog pretty frequently...

https://grandviewtheatre.net/wordpress/

There's a great article about the theatre in the June, 2009 issue of Columbus Monthly.

MikeR,

Do you, or your friend, have any additional info re: the organ that may have been in the Grandview Theatre?

What is the current status of this theatre? Will I be able to visit it when I come to Columbus in two weeks?

Sure, a visit is fine. Check your email.

Here is an April 2006 night photo of the Grandview.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fensterbme/136098805/

The Historical Theatre Society of America lists the Granedview as opening on Sept. 4, 1926.

To dn: Hi, Dave. I will talk to my friend who has the Wurlitzer organ and see what other information I can get on it. I will then send you an e-mail with the information.

Has this theatre reopened yet?

It has not officially re-opened, as there is apparently still some work to be done. However, it has already hosted a short film festival and a horror marathon to show the work in progress. One can follow the progress under the blog section on the theater's website which is: https://grandviewtheatre.net/Grandview_Theatre/Welcome.html

We have the opening slated for Dec 4 -- assuming there's no problem with occupancy/food/liquor licenses. ;)

As someone noted earlier, we have done some one off events in the past couple of months. The Manhattan Short Film Festival in September, a 24-hour horror marathon in October, and will have have Crispin Hellion Glover's Big Slide Show Part 2 on November 22nd.

This has been a year-long process, but once we made the decision to make some major facility upgrades there was no way to avoid the delay.

As an aside, the landlady -- who took some lumps when the theatre closed last year -- has been gracious and generous. She's helped with the cost of our renovations, is getting the roof replaced, etc. What we've done here couldn't possibly have happened without her help.

-David