Grand Theatre

126 Railroad Avenue,
Donaldsonville, LA 70346

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Additional Info

Previous Names: Gondran Theatre

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Condran Theatre...Donaldson Louisiana

The Gondran Theatre was built in 1906, and was first used as an opera house. It was renamed Grand Theatre in 1912. It began showing movies around 1914, and was remodeled in 1917. The Grand Theatre was closed in the 1950’s and was demolished in the 1980’s.

Contributed by Billy Holcomb / Don Lewis / Billy Smith, RidgewoodKen

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on July 27, 2013 at 7:33 pm

Donaldsonville, by Will LeBlanc (Google Books preview), says that this house was built in 1906 by the Donaldsonville Realty Company, and was purchased by local district attorney G. A. Gondran. Numerous print sources confirm the spelling as Gondran Theatre.

Gondran sold the theater in 1912, and it was renamed the Grand Theatre, the name under which it operated for the remainder of its existence. LeBlanc says the Grand was demolished in the mid-1980s, but doesn’t say when it closed as a theater. This web page has a photo of Railroad Avenue from the mid-1950s, but the Grand is not close enough to see the name of the movie on the marquee.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on August 7, 2021 at 7:32 pm

The July 18, 1960 issue of Boxoffice noted that Sidney Harp, operator of the Grand Theatre at Donaldsonville, as well as the Grand at Thibodaux, had been a visitor at the Theatre Services office in New Orleans. Other sources indicate that Harp had used Theatre Services Company as the booking agent for these houses and the Baby Grand at Thibodaux from at least as early as 1953.

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