Grove Theatre
1576 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway NW,
Atlanta,
GA
30318
1576 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway NW,
Atlanta,
GA
30318
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 45 comments
Riding by this theater, it appears the community is trying to renovate it as the Grove Park Center. I wish them luck.
and closed in 1969
This opened on June 27th, 1941. Grand opening ad in the photo section
Hi, letray98 – Looked up the Facebook page devoted to Grove Park & I was impressed. It’s nice to see the affection & nostalgia that the people from Grove Park still feel for their old community. I’m a native of Atlanta, but I grew on the opposite side of town – East Lake & Decatur. I haven’t seen any comparable outpouring of nostalgia from the people of Atlanta’s east side. You should be proud of your great memories!
I grew up just down the road. I have watched many a tarzan flick as a little boy and have fond memories of walking to the “picture show”. Ralph Kerr was my uncle.
For those of you that are interested in this theater, there is a group on FB, “You know You Are From Grove Park If” Great group. Great memories.
Here is a photo circa 1960:
http://tinyurl.com/yjdpjfy
The January 18, 1941, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that Oscar Lam was planning to build a theater at Grove Park in partnership with Wendell and Cooper Welch. Lam is mentioned again in the March 22 issue of Boxoffice which said that the new theater was under construction and expected to open in June or July. The opening was announced in the July 12 issue of Boxoffice.
I’ve found Cooper Welch mentioned as the manager of the Grove in issues of Boxoffice as late as 1957.
On Saturdays, it was more like six to eight hours. I remember the short comedies with Leon Erroll, Edgar Kennedy, “Speaking of Animals,” and the cowboys: Lash Larue, Tim Holt, Johnny Back Brown, Gene Autry. And really cheesy science-fiction movies. Before we reached the hand-holding stage with girls, we made spitball shooters from coat hangers and rubber bands and carried our ammunition in BandAid metal boxes (which later were to hold cigarett packages).
I had the distinct honor and privilege of playing with Cecil, “Spider” Ridgeway, and Hal Buice, the “Three Sharps and a Flat” dixieland band before the Saturday late show. We made $1.35 each and two theater passes.
wdj, I went to John Carey Elementary School in the late 50’s. I didn’t know Richie Welch, he was a few years older than me. I do have great memories of the Grove though, also remember there was a bowling alley just up the road with real people for pin setters. Wow, that’s been a long time ago. Steve B.
The July 12, 1941, issue of Boxoffice Magazine carried the following item: “The new Grove at 1576 Bankhead Ave. has opened. Construction of the 618-seat house cost approximately $60,000. Wendell Welsh is manager.”
I grew up in Grove Park in the ‘50s & attended the Grove often. Richie Welch was a classmate at Lena H. Cox school. Every year he invited the class to a special movie. In the 5th grade, we went to see Oklahoma!. All the boys were excited about seeing a Western. Boy, were disappointed when they broke into song.
The Welch’s had another son, Cecil, who is a trumpet player and toured for 18 years with Henry Mancini and is still in active in the ATL music scene.
I grew up in Carey Park in the 50s and 60s but we went to the Grove Theater to the show as we called it. My older brother would take me along occasionally on Friday or Saturday nights to the late show since I didn’t have school the next day. We had a cousin, Ralph Kerr, who was an Atlanta Policeman and he worked weekends off duty at the Grove. My brother and I would get a thrill when “Uncle Ralph” (since he was much older, we called him uncle even though he was our cousin) would let us ride with him to accompany one of the Welch Family to the bank to make the deposit in the night drop. Also, I remember going on Saturday’s to the Yo-Yo contests that were sometimes hosted by “Officer Don” from the “Popeye Club” … great memories of the Grove.
posted by Steve B. on Oct 17, 2008 at 10:04am
I grew up in Carey Park in the 50s and 60s but we went to the Grove Theater to the show as we called it. My older brother would take me along occasionally on Friday or Saturday nights to the late show since I didn’t have school the next day. We had a cousin, Ralph Kerr, who was an Atlanta Policeman and he worked weekends off duty at the Grove. My brother and I would get a thrill when “Uncle Ralph” (since he was much older, we called him uncle even though he was our cousin) would let us ride with him to accompany one of the Welch Family to the bank to make the deposit in the night drop. Also, I remember going on Saturday’s to the Yo-Yo contests that were sometimes hosted by “Officer Don” from the “Popeye Club” … great memories of the Grove.
Click on the highlighted Georgia Theatre Group in my posting above from Jun 10, 2008 @ 5:24 pm.
Jack, I don’t see these pic on Flickr. Do you have an exact link?
RCW
Perfect! Thanks! I did not realize that the Grove was wide enough to support a full Cinemascope presentation.
I posted photos in The “Cinemas Georgia” group on Flickr.
Let me know what ya’ll think.
You can upload them onto Flickr and include them in the Georgia Theatre Group.
I lived on Johnson Rd. just off Hollywood Rd.
It was Simsville.
E-mail for the photos? There is not an upload procedure for this site.
I would very much like to see your pictures of the Grove. Did you live GP?
RCW
The A&P was just west of WestLake Dr. on the left.
The photos I have are circa 1960.
I have photos (inside and outside) of The Grove Theatre in Atlanta on Bankhead Hwy.
Who wants copies?
RCW, Yes, I would hope that the people at Cinema Treasures would be OK with a discussion of community and changing times. After all, it directly affects our interest in these movie theaters and the movie business at large. Atlanta was very much a movie going town when I was growing up in the ‘50’s & '60’s.
As Ralph Storey, the late Los Angeles TV broadcaster, put it, “The past is not a place where you want to live. The past is a place that you want to visit in order to understand the present.” If you have the chance to see Ralph Srorey’s documentary, THINGS THAT AREN’T HERE ANY MORE, you’ll get a really interesting view of the development of the greater Los Angeles are during the 20th century.
Let me add one important thought to what Mr. Storey had to say. In examining the past in order to understand the present, we are preparing ourselves to face the future. As an aging baby boomer, that seems to me to be the bottom line in this discussion.