Grand Theater
121 W. Central Avenue,
Sutherlin,
OR
97479
121 W. Central Avenue,
Sutherlin,
OR
97479
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Ed Randle built the Rand Theatre which opened April 9, 1941. It was on E. Central Avenue. He then moved it down the street to its present location.
In 1949, Lloyd Wood & George Ulett bought the Rand Theater, and other theaters in the county. They renamed it the Grand Theater in 1953. It had a pretty good run as an independent house over the years. The last stint as a theater came around 1989, it billed itself as a Playhouse, Cinema & Dance Hall. The last film shown was “Presumed Innocent” in December of 1990.
After that, the building became an auction house and then a boxing gym, athletic club & aerobics center.
Contributed by
Steve Swanson
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
An item in the July 3, 1927, issue of The Film Daily said that the Sutherlin Theatre in Sutherlin, Oregon, had been sold to J, Higginbottom, so the Rand was not the town’s first movie theater. The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists a 300-seat Gem Theatre at Sutherlin. As the town was still quite small (1927 FDY lists the population as 515,) it is unlikely to have had two theaters, so the Sutherlin Theatre Mr. Higginbottom bought around the middle of the year was probably the same house as the Gem the FDY listed in January.
Boxoffice, Jan. 26, 1952: “Sutherlin, Ore. - Theatregoers here were somewhat confused when advertising began appearing everywhere for a Grand Theatre. It all started when Lloyd Wood, local theatre manager, made arrangements to have the sign on the front changed from Rand to Grand. The switch was to have been made by a certain date and Wood, assuming it would be, started listed the Rand as the Grand in all his advertising. Patrons looking for the Grand couldn’t find it because the front wasn’t changed until later. Explaining the change, Wood said, "The name ‘Rand’ had little or no meaning to anyone in this community after the former owners had sold their interests. That, coupled with the fact that a ‘G’ could be added to the present sign at little cost, was our main reason for the change.” Wood also operates the Jewel here."