Grand Theater

1144 23rd Street,
Richmond, CA 94804

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Fox West Coast Theatres, Robert L. Lippert Theatres Inc.

Functions: Auto Repair Shop, Retail

Styles: Art Deco

Nearby Theaters

Amigo Tires (Formerly Grand Theatre)

A long-departed neighborhood theater. The Grand Theater was opened by Robert L. Lippert Theatres Inc. on February 14, 1942 with Orson Wells in “Citizen Kane” & Lucile Fairbanks in “Passage from Hong Kong”. It was taken over by Fox West Coast Theatres in 1944 and after a complete remodel was reopened on August 13, 1944 with Gary Cooper in “The Story of Dr. Wassell. It was closed around 1957.

Contributed by Garrett Murphy

Recent comments (view all 10 comments)

GaryParks
GaryParks on May 4, 2004 at 3:26 pm

I hunted this theatre down about ten years ago using its address in the Film Daily Yearbook for 1951. At the time I found it, its concrete shell was still standing, and housed an auto repair shop. The facade had been opened up with a rollup door for moving cars in and out.

William
William on May 4, 2004 at 4:06 pm

The Grand Theatre was part of Fox West Coast Theatres in their East Bay District. The theatre seated 670 people.

JohnRice
JohnRice on May 22, 2004 at 10:24 pm

In the 1950’s the Grand wasn’t all that “grand”…it had seen better days, but like all theatres in those days, it had it’s own “character”. It was then a second run Fox West Coast theatre near Richmond High School, sometimes playing move over programs from the downtown Fox (formerly Costa). What I remember most about the Grand were the kids matinees in the summer with an admission price of 9 cents. I first saw “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Yearling” there, along with many other current films and reissues. It closed down about 1956 or 1957, it’s final days being a weekends only operation. They never even installed a wide screen but did get CinemaScope lenses and played a few Scope films letterboxed on their old academy ratio screen.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 25, 2008 at 5:24 pm

The La Tech Auto Body shop is still listed at this address. If any locals have seen this building since 2004, let us know if this is the original theater building.

rockyroadz
rockyroadz on February 13, 2010 at 5:42 pm

Yes, this is the original Grand Theater and the building is still standing to this day. It is the Auto body shop on the Rheem Avenue side and a Tire sales shop on the 23rd Street side in Richmond, California. I was just by there today and took pictures for my facebook photo album titled “Bay Area Today” which can be seen here-
Rheem Avenue photo:
View link

23rd Street photo:
View link

JohnRice
JohnRice on November 1, 2014 at 12:29 pm

The Grand Theatre opened at 23rd Street and Rheem Avenue on February 14, 1942, the first in the Robert L. Lippert theatre circuit and the first of four theaters Lippert would open in the Richmond area within the following year and a half. The Grand was the first of several new theaters opened during World War II to serve Richmond’s rapidly increasing population, much of it newly employed in the Kaiser Shipyards. The Grand cost $80,000 to build and was built and opened in an amazing 97 days.

Fox West Coast Theatres purchased the Grand from Lippert in 1944 and after a complete remodeling re-opened the Grand on August 13, 1944. It would remain a Fox West Coast house for the remaining of it’s movie showing days.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on November 1, 2014 at 2:24 pm

We’ve been using the wrong address for the Grand Theatre. The auto body shop entrance at 2311 Rheem Avenue was cut into what had been the end wall of the auditorium. Comparing the vintage photo with modern street view, the theater entrance was where Amigo Tires is now, at 1144 23rd Street. The Grand Market was on the corner, inside the “L” of the theater.

rockyroadz
rockyroadz on November 2, 2014 at 5:56 pm

If you have access to Facebook, you can see my pictures of the interior of these two buildings here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1497000899577.67520.1070745411&type=3

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