Garden Theatre

1165 Lincoln Avenue,
San Jose, CA 95125

2 people favorited this theater

The Garden Theatre opened on June 22, 1949 and it’s name echoed the old term for San Jose as "The Garden City." The architect was Otto A. Deichman. It was operated for most of its life by General Theatrical as a first run house, and was very successful as the theater for San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood.

In the mid-1970’s, the Garden Theatre changed ownership and operated a policy of Spanish language movies. With the increasing gentrification of the neighborhood, this policy no longer was profitable and the theater closed in 1988.

Camera Cinemas, the local art house exhibitors, very much wanted to buy the Garden Theatre, with the idea of turning it into a triplex, while restoring it (the theater was almost totally unaltered).

This would likely have been a successful venture, but the owners wanted more money than Camera Cinemas could afford, and Camera Cinemas opted to acquire the Towne Theatre instead.

In 1989, the Garden Theatre was gutted to the bare walls, its auditorium chandeliers being allowed to crash to the floor. However, many of the human figures of its auditorium murals (the work of the Anthony B. Heinsbergen decorating company) were painted on canvas glued to the plaster. These were removed, as well as bas relief friezes in the lobby, and all of the etched glass doors.

Some of the doors may now be found in the Orinda Theatre, Orinda, along with selected mural figures, and some of the doors are now reused in the Oaks Theatre, Berkeley.

The Garden Theatre’s facade survived the building’s conversion to an office/retail mall with marquee and vertical sign intact. The neon lights up every night.

Contributed by Gary Parks

Recent comments (view all 12 comments)

Chuck1231 on May 12, 2004 at 4:08 pm

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

rp2813 on September 21, 2004 at 12:43 pm

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.

lostmemory on October 1, 2006 at 8:22 am

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

lostmemory on April 27, 2009 at 11:37 am

1984 Photo

1986 Photo

1986 Interior

lostmemory on August 13, 2009 at 11:05 am

Here is a recent photo.

lostmemory on September 25, 2009 at 4:50 pm

Here are two more 1986 night photos:

Photo1

Photo2