Grand Lake Theatre
3200 Grand Avenue,
Oakland,
CA
94610
3200 Grand Avenue,
Oakland,
CA
94610
38 people
favorited this theater
Built in 1926 with 1,700 seats in its single auditorium, Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre still shows first run movies.
Built as a vaudeville and silent movie house before switching to an all-movies format, the Grand Lake Theatre was bought and sold five times from 1926 to 1980. The most recent owner, Renaissance Rialto Inc., purchased the Grand Lake Theatre in 1980 and spent $3.5 million renovating the worn movie palace. Part of the renovation also added a second screen in the former balcony, and since then two more screens have been added to the building, bringing the total seating capacity to 1,600. It suffered damage in the 1989 earthquake, and repairs were carried out.
Despite the changes, the Grand Lake Theatre has retained the charm of its original appearance and its original illuminated roof top sign.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 103 comments)
I’ve posted information and photos from two recent visits:
1/15/2010
3/3/2010
An article about the Grand Lake and its determined owner from the San Francisco Chronicle’s website: View link
Hurrah for the Grand Lake supporting the General Strike!
A 2012 photo can be seen here.
The great Grand lake made it to number 4 of this list of Bay Area theaters. I’d rate it number 1 if we were going on marquees only…
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/08/top_10_bay_area_movie_theaters.php?page=2
New photos (some of the interior downstairs auditorium) taken yesterday.
Two photos from 2000 of the interior of the larger screen with the ornate curtains in place.
GRAND LAKE
GRAND LAKE
Ian, as usual great photos. Thanks for sharing.
Outstanding photos, Ian. Well done!
The Grand Lake made the 2013 A-List as one of the best Indie Cinemas in the Bay Area
http://sf.cityvoter.com/best/indie-cinema/arts-and-entertainment/bay-area/slideshow?page=2