Granada Theatre
537 Commerce Street,
Bluefield,
WV
24701
537 Commerce Street,
Bluefield,
WV
24701
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Great organ news!
Link
The original 1927 Wurlitzer theater organ has been returned to the Granada by a generous donor! We are so excited! For more details see: http://m.bdtonline.com/news/local-theater-welcomes-home-original-antique-organ/article_f0b9da9c-1adc-11e5-84af-ab4ae04a8731.html?mode=jqm
The BPS has reopened the Granada as a community center. The Granada has hosted concerts and Bingo in its latest revival. http://www.bluefieldpreservationsociety.com/
Nice to learn through a few recent posts that this theatre may be returned to its former life as a theatre and not a night club. Sorry to learn that the floor was leveled though. Is there anyone who could give me a tour as I and my husband will be passing through the Bluefield area on November 10 of this year?
Bluefield Preservation Society needs photographs (exterior and interior) of the Granada Theater(pre-night club) for our architect. Can you help us get the word out? Thank you!
In its life as a night club, the interior was painted and the floor leveled; however, all of that can be reversed and I’m hopeful that it will come back to life as a theater…..HOORAY! for the few dedicated members of the Bluefield Preservation Society.
To all, the Granada Theater in Bluefield is coming back to life. The theater was bought by the Bluefield Development Authority and will be operated by the Bluefield Preservation Society. It did have a small life as a night club, but the BPS is working hard to begin restoration of the theater later on this year into both a performing arts center and cinema. I’m looking forward to seeing the reinstallation of the Wurlitzer Style EX, Opus 1790, in the next year or so.
The Wurlitzer factory was in North Tonawanda NY (suburb of Buffalo).
Is this theater still around? I am in the process of buying and rehabbing the Philippi Grand and if it proves profitable I want to work on reopening other theaters in WV, KY, OH, PA, MD, and VA. There are so many wonderful old theaters with more character than any modern cookie cutter places.
Granada: Thanks for the updated information on this theatre. It would be grand if this theatre could be restored for future generations and for those of us who recall the older art deco theatres when they were new and vital to so many communities. My former hometown theatre was art deco and I miss it every day.
The last time I was in Bluefield (Nov. 2009) the Granada Theater building was still standing. The Wurlitzer organ, Opus 1790, is at the Keith Albee Theater, Huntington, WV. It would be great to restore the Cohen Granada Theater to its original splendor as an Art Deco movie house. I need to do research on the beginnings of the theater in late 1927 and early 1928. The organ was shipped from the Wurlitzer factory in November, 1927.
Patsy: The Wurlitzer organ is alive and well and living in the Keith Albee Theater in Huntington, WV It was removed from the Granada, probably in 1970 and lived in Evansville, IN. in a private residence for nearly 30 years. In 2000 it was moved to the Keith Albee Theater where it resides today. Check out the site on Facebook: Keith Albee Theater Organ.
What is the status of this theatre now? One of the photos shows it being a night club at one time. Also interesting to learn that a Wurlitzer was installed in 1927.