Granada Theatre
212 N. Michigan Street,
South Bend,
IN
46617
212 N. Michigan Street,
South Bend,
IN
46617
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Balaban & Katz Corp., Paramount Pictures Inc.
Architects: Karl M. Vitzthum
Styles: Atmospheric, Spanish Moorish
Nearby Theaters
The 2,500-seat Granada Theatre opened on February 16, 1927 with Lewis Stone in “An Affair of the Follies”. The 3 manual Wurlitzer organ was opened by organist Floyd N. Young. The theatre was designed by K.M. Vitzhum, who also designed the Lerner Theatre (now the Elco Performing Arts Center) in Elkhart. By 1941 the Granada Theatre was operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary John Balaban. It was still open in 1970. It was demolished in summer of 1971.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
Love to have that one-sheet and 8 by 10 color stills.kids today have idea what a real theatre was.this my friends was a real movie house.
If anyone is interested there is an old Floyd Patterson fight night ticket stub on ebay that showed at the Granada. Would be pretty cool for someone that went or if you knew someone that went. Take care. Here is the link.
View link
Wow, my name is Malinda Williams-Pearman and I have just stumbled onto this web site. I remember Cosimo and the Granada theater very well. My father Jewell Williams considered Cosimo a good friend and was the stage manager there for years, until it was demolished. I would love to get my hands on anything vintage Granada. I still remember getting into the movies for free and taking home those large bags of left-over popcorn when they emptied the popcorn machine at night. Best wishes to Cosimo and family!
The Granada Theatre was located in the parkland situated to the right side of the Google Map picture heading this CT page. The building, formerly at the NE corner of Michigan St. and Colfax Ave., is gone. The (fuzzy) theater in the picture’s left distance is the Morris Arts (ex-Palace). None — none! — of this display’s linked photos show the Granada; for the most part, they show the Morris or the State, other theaters still on South Bend’s Michigan Street. One photo of the Granada’s exterior is linked among the “Comments”.
The Google Map picture has been corrected. The Granada Theatre was located in the park shown. Its marquee and entrance, facing Michigan Street, were situated more-or-less where the prominent row of trees now stand.
The Granada Theatre was a fine example of atmospheric style movie palace architecture. Even in its later days, the theatre was in fine shape and still created the incredible illusion that one was sitting in a Spanish courtyard in the evening. While the theatre had long stopped using the cloud and star illusions on the sky dome ceiling, it was still a magnificant structure and the fact that it was torn down a terrible historical loss. The marquee and font style of the theater’s name was a smaller duplicate of Chicago’s Granada Theatre. I wish I had taken photographs of the theatre when I worked there. I could never imagine something so beautiful could ever be demolished.
I was surprised today to find some color interior shots of this theater, taken in 1971. They were made during the removal of the 3 manual WurliTzer. I found them on www.theaterorgans.com website. I worked my way through there opus list, the first listing for South Bend is in l921. Once I found that, I clicked on South Bend, and the Granada was shown. Click on Granada (if needed) and you should be able to view these shots. As I said, it was nice to run across these, as interior photos of this this one are hard to find. == Sam ==
1955 photo added credit South Bend Tribune.
This opened on February 16th, 1927. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
Granada theatre opening Wed, Feb 16, 1927 – 26 · The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Saint Joseph, Indiana, United States of America) · Newspapers.com
The Granada Theatre was a fine example of atmospheric style movie palace architecture. It sat directly across the street from the Palace (now the Morris Performing Arts Center. Even in its later days, the theatre was in fine shape and still created the incredible illusion that one was sitting inside a Spanish courtyard in the evening. While the theatre had long stopped using the cloud and star illusions on the sky dome ceiling, it was still a magnificent structure and the fact that it was torn down a terrible historical loss. The overview on the theatre states it was closed in 1957. I worked for the theatre chain that owned it in the early 1970s. It was still open in 1970. I used to think that it was a “twin” to Chicago’s Granada, but it was not. I wish I had taken photographs of the theatre when I worked there. I could never imagine something so beautiful could ever be demolished.