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Pics of the Grand Theatre’s Demolition
posted by
Patrick Crowley
on
January 22, 2004 at 6:51 am
BALTIMORE, MD — Thanks to Ed Dobbins, we’ve got some photos from the demolition of the Grand Theatre, which began on Monday.
The pictures come from a live, continuously-updated webcam of the Grand — courtesy of the Baltimore Guide Online — that’s sitting across the street from the theater’s demolition site.
Animation of the Grand’s demolition
The Grand silently awaits the wrecking ball
A view of the Grand’s auditorium taken from the balcony
Close-up view of the Grand’s stage taken from ground level
The Grand has two exit doors on balcony level. One on the left (facing north)…
… and another on the right (facing south).
Looking up at the Grand’s elaborate plasterwork ceiling
The remains of the Grand’s third floor projection room
The Grand’s main auditorium takes the first blow of the wrecking ball
The blows…
… slowly continue…
… until, sadly…
… for the first time in nearly a hundred years…
… the Grand’s auditorium sees sunlight.
Comments (14)
This week I’ve been leaning a lot of the real story behind the demolition of the Grand. Three years ago when the Enoch Pratt Library announced the new Highlandtown library, they said, “We are going to try and incorporate the Grand into the new library design. This was just to lull the public into thinking the Grand was going to be saved. Then last year the said “Due to the bad condition of the Grand, it can’t be saved and has to come down.†I was one who fell for it. From the pictures I got this past Sunday, 18 2003, you can see it was still in very good condition. This was all a good snow job by both the Library system and the East Baltimore Guide. They never intended to save it! Personally if I had the finances, I build a new Grand in defiance to them!
Yes Michael it can…..now just turn over the full cash withdrawal details of your all bank accounts to every member of this site and we can go from there…..
From what I’ve heard, the origianl plans do still exist. The idea I have is to build a new updated Grand, facade & main theater the same, but with two smaller wings of the sides for addtional screen (make it more profitable. Do anyone has any ideas on how to do this, planning, fundind…….etc?
This looks like this weekend will be its last day – http://www.ebguide.com/webcam.html
Also if anyone could get a very nice piece of the theater that is recognizable, or important part, that is small you could send to me in the mail, please contact me, I can send you the money for shipping via PayPal.
Michael is unempployed? Well, there’s the shock of the century!
…and yes, I can spell, that was just a typo.
TO: Michael: you must stop commenting on these sites. Every comment you make is just not of any value. Screaming at us that some cinema MUST become an opera house or concert hall is just silly. The one you posted on Sydney’s Roxy Parramatta is a good example of you just carrying on. So these sites stay as some sort of interesting and informative knowledge bank please do everyone a favour and desist commenting about opera houses and symphony halls or even your lack of a job or plans to rebuild something. You are wasting space. (I think I said that right).
Let’s try to keep it friendly everyone. :)
The Grands demolition is yet another Disregard to the publics opinion.
A sad ending for a Beautiful theater, its Presence will be missed in
Highlandtown!.
What makes the demolition of the Grand more difficult was what took place five years ago. When plans for a new regional library surfaced, the original site was not at the Grand site. The proposed library was to rise on the site of a ugly, non-descript 1950’s supermarket one block to the east. The neighborhood rejected that idea, citing the need for their supermarket. (of coarse, but…)The alternate site?
Another loss at the site, pale in comparison, was one of the last Little Tavern Hamburgers free-standing building. it sat two doors down from the Grand, on the corner of a little alley.It had remained a Little Tavern until recently, never being altered.
Man… I feel Like I have seen a murder! What a loss. Nobody will ever make a another dollar store or pizza hut historic!
These photos are really something to view and I feel a sadness in my soul. Does anyone know where we can go on the internet to retrieve information, in general about the Grand theaters, the architect, etc.?
Very sad indeed.