Granada Theater

I remember going there as a child,especially The Beatle's Hard Days Night and PT109...I liked the vending machine that had ice cream bars..the last time I was there was in 1983 before I moved to Texas...

The adddress for the Granada Theatre was 4519 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63118, Seating capacity wass 1314.

As noted above, the Granada seated 1314 people (obviously not 1 as listed under seats: (!)

Just wanted to add that the Granada was the only theatre in St. Louis that was a desgined by the Boller Brothers, Architects.

Recently read in "St. Louis Lost" that the facade and some of the interior plaster work was saved. Was wondering if anyone has any information on if these objects still exist, and if they do, where are they?

E.P. Rupert is listed here as the architect of the Granada Theatre. Rupert, a Chicago-based architect, also designed the Liberty in Libertyville, IL, the Tivoli in Mishawaka, IN, and the Washington in Quincy, IL among others. A 1930s photograph of the Granada can also been seen here.

Building permit issued in Nov. 1925 lists E.P. Rupert as architect.

Theatre opened Oct. 1, 1927.

JAlex you need to check the Boller Brothers web site, it even shows the Granada theatre as one of their theatres with photos.

Charles, what is the website of this Boller Bros. page you're mentioning? No offense, but possibly, they might have an error on their page. It's just that I can't see how the building permit of the theater would have the wrong architect on it, unless Rupert worked with the Bollers or vice-versa, or one replaced the other at the last minute? Just thoughts...

Bryan and JAlex, while in town over the week end I met up with Tony De Carlo who was the long time manager of the Granada Theatre, He still insists that the bronze plaque on the front of the theatre above the east poster case says that the Granada was designed by the Boller Brothers. Still it is nothing ruff up any ones dander.

Charles, you seem to have a hard time agreeing with people over who built theaters. Also why would a theater company have a theater on there web site that was built so long ago and has not existed in almost a decade.

The web site I was referring to was the History of the Boller Brothers and their theatres, it was not a disagreement and I honor others views but I only post from what I have researched.. If I am proven wrong then it is to my advantage so that I can update my data base.

Ok, thanks for clarifying this. Do you remember what the address is for that web site?

I only found one site on the web that listed Boller Brothers theaters, and they had several theaters listed on there that where not built by the Boller Brothers.

The Boller Brothers site I referenced to is
http://www.musicfortsmith.org/bollertable.html
This was complied by the University of Arizona

I skimmed the list of theatres on the above website. The one theatre that jumped out at me was the Lowes Midland in Kansas City, which is one of Thomas Lamb's masterpieces. This makes me wonder how accurate the above site is.

AS I posted on the Midland page, No question that the Midland Theatre was a Thomas W. Lamps theatre. But according to the 213 pages on file with the Western Historical Manuscript Collection the Boller Brothers were the Supervising Architects. Also this is the same situation with the Granada Theatre in St. Louis, the Boller Brothers have 72 sheets listed as being the supervising architects.

Perhaps the Boller Brothers where not the designers, just the supervising architects, and E.P. Rupert was the actual designer. Or perhaps it is the other way around.

According to their manuscripts they were the supervising architects not the original designers. I stand corrected on all accounts. The placque is misleading as it says it was a Boller Brothers theatre. Tony De Carlo wasa able to obtain the Brass placque.

One of the sad things that the Arthurs did to the Granada in a remodel project was that tey put a drop ceiling in the lobby and completely covered all the ornamental work and painted over the front arched windows that were above the drop ceiling. They also ruined the auditorium when the painted the entire auditorium with a cream colored paint covering over all the gold leaf trim on the plaster work and dismatled all the crystal from the main auditorium chandelier. The lobby chandeliers were still hanging above the dropped ceilings along with the velvet curtains that were draped on the front windows. The ornatmental plaster work that was above the drop ceiling was still intact though peeling pretty badly but the beauty was still there.

Melders I finally got a reply back from the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation in regards to you wondering what they kept fro the Granada and what they were going to do with it. Here is the reply:

Charles,
We saved the entire terra cotta facade. It is in storage and awaiting reinstallation in the proposed National Architectural Arts Center.
Thanks,
Larry Giles

thanks!

As the theatre was being torn down I was able to get in to scavange and I have somewhere the plexiglass "Aisle 3" sign that marked the same. I also have pics that I took in various stages of it being tore down. On the stage was a Shultz grand piano that I assume went down also. It was located behind the screen. The Majestic in East St. Louis had the same type front.
JamesGrebe pianoman@accessus.net

Here is a photo of the auditorium of the Granada Theatre.
http://photobucket.com/albums/y147/Chuck1231/?action=view¤t=GranadaTheatreAuditoriumSTL.jpg

Here is a vintage photo of the exterior.
http://photobucket.com/albums/y147/Chuck1231/?action=view¤t=GranadaTheatreSTLMo.jpg

Thanks for the photos Charles.
A true shame

Photos of the Granada Theatre.
http://www.buildingmuseum.org/recovery/project_granada.asp

I've seen the "Boller Brothers site" Chuck refers to--it was years ago and I don't have the URL--but I may be able to clear a few things up. The site listed the town, the cinema and the date for a lot of Boller projects, and in many cases the date listed for a particular theater was long after the theater had opened. This suggests that the Boller firm was simply doing a remodel job on an existing cinema. In the Granada's case, it's entirely possible that while Rupert was the original architect, the Bollers made later contributions.

Here is part of a December 1992 article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

The scheduled coming feature attraction at the condemned Granada Theater building this week might be called "Coming Down." That's because Don Bellon, owner of Bellon Wrecking and Salvage Co., which has the contract to raze the long-vacant building at 4519 Gravois Avenue, said last week that demolition of the landmark could begin as early as this week. By mid-week, workers were removing the building's ornate trim.

Bellon was issued a permit late last week to raze the theater building. He also has clearance from the air pollution control office of the city's building division. That permit was needed because of asbestos in the building.

The building's owner, Mark Wenner, a lawyer who lives in Ladue, is to appear today before City Judge Christopher Smith to report on the progress of razing the building, which was condemned in November 1991. Last September, Smith found Wenner guilty of eight of 13 violations cited in the condemnation order.

Alderman Jack Garvey, D-14th Ward, who has criticized the condition of the building, said, "It's sad. There is a lot of memories and history there. But when you neglect a building like that, and it threatens safety, then you have to take it down. Buildings with a 15-foot hole in the roof are a problem."

Back in the 50's my neighbor on Alfred Ave. told me that when the Granada was being built, they had the front wall up (just the structural brick) and a windstorm came up one night and laid the wall all across Gravois Ave.

Some photos of the Granada Theatre.
Night 1985
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c25%2c3%2c-1&SortField=ProductName+DESC%2cProductName&ProductID=29289
1985 the Granada block
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c25%2c3%2c-1&SortField=ProductName+DESC%2cProductName&ProductID=29289
1985 daytime photo
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c25%2c3%2c-1&SortField=ProductName+DESC%2cProductName&catpageindex=10&ProductID=29287
Head on 1985 photo
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c25%2c3%2c-1&SortField=ProductName+DESC%2cProductName&ProductID=29284

Does anyone know what years that BAC operated the Granada?