Granada Theatre

Opened in 1952, the Granada was designed by Gale Santocono using a plan very similar to that of the slightly larger Seavue Theatre at Pacifica, opened the previous year.

Some good news about the Granada: a group of volunteers has cleaned up and made needed repairs to get the theater reopened for a local film festival. They hope that these efforts may eventually lead to the theater’s ongoing revival. View article

Here is a 1987 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/lgq5ms

To all who are concerned – the Granada is scheduled to be demolished to make room for new development. If you are interested in saving the Granada be loud and be active. We can stop this if we only care enough to make our voices heard. Since the City bought it (with our money)– it is Our Theater. I can’t stand to think that it is going away to make room for more parking. A multi plex in the next block is NOT the Granada. Stand up and be counted or don’t complain when it is gone.

Renovation news:
http://tinyurl.com/c2kzv5

I was there today for a visit in beautiful downtown Morgan Hill, on a sunny, perfect day, and met the owner of the theater this morning while it was closed and I ventured into the lobby to have a look around. Mr. Eanderson told me the theater opened on June 22, 1951 as a single screen cinema with 650 seats as an independent house. It had a full stage and was sometimes used as a live theater playhouse or for church meetings before it was twinned. The original ticket booth was out front and was destroyed by a speeding truck many years ago which plowed through it, and was then rebuilt inside, with the removal of the original snack bar when the theater was twinned in 1980. The new snack bar is on the right side of the lobby as you enter. This theater is leased by Peachtree Concessions now as a snack bar concession more than a functional theater, although it shows first or second-run films.

The building is in fair condition but it badly needs restoration, paint and a new facade which would help to revitalize its appeal as a cinema rather than a run-down old theater. The tower is original but the marquee was replaced by a cheaply-built fluorescent-box type signage marquee which does match the style of the tower. The lobby could use some Deco pastel paint and fixtures. The twinning hurt its overall esthetic appeal, and it would look much better if it were restored as a single screen. Mr. Eanderson has owned or managed the theater since it first opened over fifty years ago, and he worked at the old Granada down the street many years before that. The old Granada was built in the 1920s and was gutted by fire in 1949. It is now a closed-down Mexican Cantina next door to Rosy’s At The Beach restaurant.

Mr. Eanderson was very helpful and was delighted I was interested in the theater and its history. He is currently seeking a new company to lease the theater and help him upgrade it, and keep it running as a movie theater. He has no plans to close it in the foreseeable future.

The Granada is a theater to enjoy whenever you visit Morgan Hill or Gilroy on an escape from nearby San Jose or the San Francisco Bay Area. Its easy access on Monterey Road makes it a good spot for dinner and a movie.