Grand Theatre
126 Railroad Avenue,
Donaldsonville,
LA
70346
126 Railroad Avenue,
Donaldsonville,
LA
70346
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The Grand Theatre closed for the final time on July 16, 1980 with “The Long Riders”. This never closed in the 1950s.
The July 18, 1960 issue of Boxoffice noted that Sidney Harp, operator of the Grand Theatre at Donaldsonville, as well as the Grand at Thibodaux, had been a visitor at the Theatre Services office in New Orleans. Other sources indicate that Harp had used Theatre Services Company as the booking agent for these houses and the Baby Grand at Thibodaux from at least as early as 1953.
Donaldsonville, by Will LeBlanc (Google Books preview), says that this house was built in 1906 by the Donaldsonville Realty Company, and was purchased by local district attorney G. A. Gondran. Numerous print sources confirm the spelling as Gondran Theatre.
Gondran sold the theater in 1912, and it was renamed the Grand Theatre, the name under which it operated for the remainder of its existence. LeBlanc says the Grand was demolished in the mid-1980s, but doesn’t say when it closed as a theater. This web page has a photo of Railroad Avenue from the mid-1950s, but the Grand is not close enough to see the name of the movie on the marquee.
From Donaldsonville a postcard image of the Condran Theatre.