Grand Cinema Theatres
319 W. North Water Street,
New London,
WI
54961
319 W. North Water Street,
New London,
WI
54961
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Rogers Cinemas
Architects: William Waters
Styles: Romanesque Revival
Previous Names: Grand Opera House, Grand Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Grand Opera House opened on February 19, 1895, with the play “Lost Paradise”. The architect was William Waters, whose trademark sunbursts and cross arrows can be found on the buildings west and south side. He also designed the Grand Opera House in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The Grand Opera House had 619-seats in orchestra and balcony levels. It became a vaudeville theatre and later became a movie theatre.
The building was saved in 1999 by the Friends of the Grand and Rogers Cinemas when it was renovated and the exterior was restored to its original condition. Rogers Cinemas purchased the building and built 3-screens adjacent to the right of the original building. They also updated the sound and projection systems. The Grand Auditorium (auditorium 1-formerly the Grand Opera House) was closed off in July 2023 due to a decaying roof. Auditoriums 2-4 remained operational until the buildings' permanent closure on January 1, 2026, with its last day of operation being December 31, 2025. The final films screened were Jack Black in “Anaconda”, “Avatar:Fire and Ash” & “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants”.
The property was bought from the independent owner and will not be kept as a cinema.
Contributed by
Ed Wilke
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Some of my photos of the Grand can be seen at.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/edwilke/
The Grand is a nice theatre for a town of this size. Seeing a movie in the original auditorium is really cool, especially if you sit in the balcony. I saw a movie at the Grand in 1991, before it was “saved by Rogers”, it was quite a dump at that time. It had been seriously neglected for a long time, but was still cool at the time, if you like old single screens. I remember a group of employees from theatres in Appleton went there together. They left the door to the auditorium open, and light was coming in from the lobby. One of us went out to the lobby and asked if they could close the door. The woman responded “sorry, we need to make sure there are no problems with the movie”…We all laughed.
Very Old school looking.
Now under the ownership of Grand Cinema Theatres. Website: http://www.grandcinematheatres.com/
Currently for sale, but using a different address from the Overview, and the Opera House fronts North Water Street.
https://commercial.century21.com/property/208-wolf-river-plaza-new-london-wi-54961-REN031342349
Current function is first-run, although the website hasn’t been updated in several years now.