Granada Theatre
632 N. Avalon Boulevard,
Wilmington,
CA
90744
632 N. Avalon Boulevard,
Wilmington,
CA
90744
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox West Coast Theatres, Metropolitan Theatres
Architects: W.J. McCormack
Styles: Spanish Renaissance
Previous Names: Teatro Granada
Nearby Theaters
The 1,000-seat Granada Theatre was opened by 1928 as a West Coast Theatres house. It was soon operated by Fox West Coast Theatres. It was still open in 1955, but had closed by 1956. It reopened as the Teatro Granada screening Spanish language movies.
By the early-2000’s it was in use as a church by the Brazilian based Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. The church moved out in 2014 and the building was put up ‘For Sale’. The safety curtain is still intact, bearing advertisements for various business’s from the 1920’s.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
“Pare de Sufrir” means “Stop the suffering”, or something close to it.
Here are some 1983 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/m9x35l
http://tinyurl.com/kjs3z4
I’m in the theater, but the church person told me to wait for the service to finish before taking pics of the interior. There are a half dozen people or so being preached to. Not much has changed inside since the movie days. I will post the pictures later.
No go on the auditorium photos. The minister or whatever he was wouldn’t allow it. Here are the rest of the photos:
http://tinyurl.com/lfzdqx
http://tinyurl.com/l65d6a
http://tinyurl.com/lar8sv
http://tinyurl.com/nglws5
http://tinyurl.com/n2dgdq
http://tinyurl.com/kjrqp8
http://tinyurl.com/n5eqaf
http://tinyurl.com/ltzftd
http://tinyurl.com/n4ew2z
http://tinyurl.com/mfsrq7
Here is the theater curtain in the 1930s, with ads for local businesses:
http://tinyurl.com/pe9lyn
I was a seven-year-old kid in 1949 living in Wilmington CA. Every Saturday, weather permitting, my parents allowed me to walk to the Granada Theater with my buddies to see the Serial movies and cartoons. We were constantly getting into trouble sneaking into the balcony and throwing chewed Jujubes and spit-wads at the kids below! More than once the Theater manager called our parents to come and get us. The most memorable event of a day at the Granada was to flatten the popcorn boxes and throw them like todays Frisbee and see who could cast a shadow on the screen for the longest time. Another version of this game was to see who could deposit a flat popcorn box on one of the two small balconies on either side of the stage under the fancy grille-work. I could never have imagined what was behind that grille-work. Little did I know I would spend thousands of future hours over my adult lifetime lovingly restoring, repairing and owning wonderful Theatre Pipe Organs! Pipe Organs and old movie theatres have been my passion for many years and it all sort of started at the Wilmington Granada! Anyone know what happened to the Granada Organ?
I got in to the Granada the other day and tried to snapped off a photo of the interior but got caught! I got one but it’s way fuzzy. Not sure why they are such a pain about pictures. I told them I was with the LAHTF (LA Historic Theatre Foundation) and just wanted to document that it was still there and looked good and that we where happy the church was taking such good care of it. But my words were lost in translation as the man in charge did not speak english and the young man was not saying as much as I was for sure. I will not stop trying.
It did not look Art Deco really except for a little bit of painting and the terrazzo out front, but the spanish decor is still there and I forgot to look for the “P” for Post at the proscenium as the glowing cross on the stage was distracting.
The Granada is for sale right now, and the realtor is trying to find a preservation minded buyer. contact: Monica Garcia Realtor – Historic Properties Specialist RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists CalBRE #01957104 C: 562.572.3617
Here is the listing: http://www.loopnet.com/lid/18877103
The owner’s son showed us around and even lowered the advertising curtain! We promised not to take pictures of it, but it is a real treasure! It is in amazing shape, well maintained and clean. The whole theatre is in good shape in my opinion. Let’s find a good buyer for it!
We were able to shoot the Granada last week, and although it’s not the most elaborate theater we’ve seen, it is more charming in person than the listing pictures suggest.
We tried to give it some pizzazz in hopes of finding someone who will be attracted to it’s potential – I think the biggest challenge will be getting the neighborhood and community to embrace it.
You can see our take on the theater here:
http://southonspring.com/historic-theatre-for-sale/
For updates on this theater please visit: www.facebook.com/wilmingtongranadafriends The Friends of the Granada Theater are starting a campaign to get this theater reopened as an indie movie house and performance art center. We are working closely with the city of Los Angeles and residents of Wilmington.