Murphy Art Centre
1043 Virginia Avenue,
Indianapolis,
IN
46203
1043 Virginia Avenue,
Indianapolis,
IN
46203
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Universal Chain Theatrical Enterprises Inc.
Architects: Donald Graham
Functions: Art Gallery, Retail
Styles: Atmospheric, Neo-Classical, Spanish Colonial
Previous Names: Granada Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Opened on April 8, 1928, the Granada Theatre, in the heart of Indianapolis' Fountain Square neighborhood. It was built for the Universal Pictures chain.
It featured a facade of reddish-orange brick trimmed in cream-colored terra cotta in austere Neo-Classical style, with a trio of arched windows above the main entrance.
It was the first theater in Indianapolis to screen a foreign sound film, “Tierra Madre”, in 1932.
The Granada Theatre was closed as a movie house on March 11, 1951, and was taken over by the G.C. Murphy Company soon afterwards.
After the Murphy Company closed, the building sat vacant for a while before being acquired by a group of artisans in the 1990’s, who were seeking a place to set up their galleries after moving from the south side of the city.
Since then, the Murphy Art Centre, as the one-time theater is now called, has become a home for both art galleries and retail stores, a thriving example of urban reuse in a once dying area of Indianapolis.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Check out http://www.fountainsquareindy.com/
This building is in the center of a historic area near downtown Indianapolis.
A film organization is moving into the former Granada Theater building now known as the Murphy Arts Center and will build a small screening roon within the facility: View link.
Historic Indianapolis article here
April 8th, 1928 grand opening ad in photo section as well as
http://indystar.newspapers.com/clip/3483072/granada_opening/
http://indystar.newspapers.com/clip/3483076/granada_opening/
Abraham Katzow’s Virginia Realty Company announced on October 8, 1926, that it planned to erect a new motion picture and vaudeville theater at 1043 Virginia Avenue. H. Ziegler Dietz was named as architect in the October 9, 1926, Star article, which also contained a sketch of the proposed showplace. In January 1927 the Fountsquare Realty Corporation took over the project with no mention of why the change occurred.
Fountsquare Realty erected what became the Granada Theatre on land leased from William Gansberg for 99 years. Fountsquare’s principals were four Indianapolis businessmen: Mark Margolis, Leslie Colvin, Pierre Goodrich and Donald Graham. Colvin served as general contractor and built the structure. Graham, an architect and University of Illinois Plym Architectural Fellowship winner, drew the plans. Fountsquare leased the $500,000 theater to Universal Chain Theaters Corporation and Universal Chain Theater Enterprises, Inc. for 25 years.
The city building department approved the Fountsquare project in March 1927 just as the principals were finishing up construction of a new theater in Muncie, Ind.