Granada Theater
4519 Gravois Avenue,
St. Louis,
MO
63116
4519 Gravois Avenue,
St. Louis,
MO
63116
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 35 comments found
I remember coming to the Granada to see Back to the Future and the film kept busting and they had to restart it. Also saw my first R rated film there as well Porky’s. My parents took me I think I was 9 years old. They must have thought it was about that Looney Tunes character.
I was born in St. Lou and grew up over by my grandparents house on Juniata St and Gustine Ave. I remember seeing Nightmare on Elmstreet w/my dad and uncle and sister and being scared to death walking home, because every alley we would pass by my uncle would yell “THERE’S FREDDY!!!!!” Also saw Airplane. Hated that the theater couldn’t be saved.
I have the vaguest memory of the Granada as a kid, I know that it’s where I saw my first movie (The Empire Strikes Back). I didn’t realize that it was torn down in the 90s, I had always heard that there was a fire there. I must have gotten it confused with something else!
Nice photos.
Does anyone know what years that BAC operated the Granada?
Some photos of the Granada Theatre.
Night 1985
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1985 the Granada block
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1985 daytime photo
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Head on 1985 photo
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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.
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.”
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.
Photos of the Granada Theatre.
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Thanks for the photos Charles.
A true shame
Here is a photo of the auditorium of the Granada Theatre.
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Here is a vintage photo of the exterior.
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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
thanks!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Boller Brothers site I referenced to is
http://www.musicfortsmith.org/bollertable.html
This was complied by the University of Arizona
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.
Ok, thanks for clarifying this. Do you remember what the address is for that web site?
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.
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.