Grand Theatre
608 1st Street SW,
Calgary,
AB
T2P 1M6
608 1st Street SW,
Calgary,
AB
T2P 1M6
1 person
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and reopened as Showcase Grand on December 20th, 1985.
This opened as Sherman Grand on February 5th, 1912. Grand opening ad posted.
This venue is no longer showing films as it’s a live theatre venue now. It’s not correct to mark it closed but it’s no longer a cinema.
opening ad as a twin from September 15th, 1972 can be found in the photo section.
The link to the University of Calgary’s page about Donald B. Smith’s book in my first comment above is dead, but perhaps the Google Books preview of Calgary’s Grand Story will last longer.
Theatre Junction has been operating in this building for four years now. A few bits of the original plaster surviving in what appears to be the original theater entrance hall can be seen in this video from the Calgary Herald, dated July 26, 2009. I don’t know if this part of the building has been restored since then.
Just a quick note
This was not a restoration but rather the creation of a black box type studio theatre space within the physical space that once was occupied by the Grand’s ornate interior. Elements of plaster work found in the original lobby area have been preserved, all that is original from the original auditorium are the brick walls/exterior.
I guess it saved them the cost of building a new structure.. but it certainly was not a “restoration” by any means. The Grand Theatre (1902) in Kingston Ontario is in the middle of doing the same thing.
It’s great to hear that they are redoing this theatre. I was only in it a few times during the late ‘80 and early '90s, but I have relatives who told me how “grand” the Grand was when they were kids in the 1940s.
University of Calgary Press has published a book about the city’s history from 1912 to 2005, in which the Lougheed Building and the Grand Theatre are prominently featured: Calgary’s Grand Story. (The page displays a very small picture of the interior of The Grand, as featured on the book’s cover.)