Chicago Movie Palaces: GRANADA THEATRE (1926 - 1989) Part 1
March 9th, 2009 by Scott Marks
The Granada Theater a few weeks before it met the wrecking ball.
It was my neighborhood theater. We lived a few blocks south on Thorndale and Broadway, and while the Devon was technically closer, if I had my way, and when it came to movies I always did, my parents went the extra few blocks.Well, almost always. They almost never turned left on Broadway to go to the Uptown or Riviera because, as Harry Dean Stanton so eloquently put it in Repo Man, they were located in a “bad area.”
The Granada will always be my one major link to movie theaters past, those ornately detailed picture palaces with seductive, block long marquees pulsing to the external rhythm of sequential light bulbs. It was huge. I mean H-U-G-E: close to 3,500 seats and balconies that seemed to extend into the stratosphere. From the neon lettering to the carpeting, velvet ropes and snappy ushers’ uniforms it was red as far as the eye could see. Nowadays you’re lucky to find a poster box in front of each auditorium, but the Granada, and its sister theaters plastered their facades with reams of colorful exploitation. And gosh only knows if they ever dreamed of multiplexes with staggered showtimes.
What follows is a Historical Building Survey commissioned in 1989 and reading it recalls the glory and ultimate downfall of this remarkable temple of cinema. It was sent to me by a gentlemen researching the Marks Brothers theater chain inquiring whether I was a distant relative. Only in spirit. I must have accidentally deleted the email this document was attached to and I find myself in the embarrassing situation of not being able to properly thank him for handing down this fascinating document.
It’s long, so I’m afraid that we’ll have to post this one on the installment plan.
GRANADA THEATER: WRITTEN AND HISTORICAL DESCRIPTIVE DATA
Compiled by the Historic American Buildings Survey
National Park Service
Rocky Mountain Regional Office
Denver, Colorado
Location: 6427-6441 North Sheridan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
Present Owner: Senior Life Styles Corporation
Present Occupant: Vacant
Statement of Significance: The Granada Theater is the last surviving example of a movie palace designed by the architectural firm of Levy & Klein with Edward E. Eichenbsum(sic) as principal designer. The building is a superb example of the excessively ornamented architecture used for theatres during the early days of moving pictures. Both its exterior, in terra cotta, and its interior, largely in plaster and marble, were then and still are unsurpassed in their outright architectural exuberance. Furthermore, the Granada was the largest theater built for its original owners, the Marks Brothers, and remains one of the largest surviving buildings of its type in the united states.
When completed in 1926, the building had a number of notable points of importance, including one of the most elaborate heating and air conditioning systems of the period. It is also the first freespan balcony truss in Chicago and the auditorium is still the largest column free theater space in Chicago. The valance above the stage is the only surviving valance in any of Chicago’s theaters.
The Granada has deteriorated badly during the past two years. It is in ruins. Its useful life is over.
Historian: Wilbert R. Hasbrouck, FAIA
PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Date of Erection: 1926
Architect: Levy & Klein, Architects with Edward F. Eichenbaum, Designer
Original Plans: None found. Partial set of prints were found and used to prepare schematic floor plans included hereinafter.
Historical Narrative:
The Granada Theater was constructed in 1926 for the Marks Brothers (Louis and Meyer), who at that time were among the major theater owners/operators in Chicago.
The Theater was operated by the Marks Brothers until 1934, when it was purchased by Balaban and Katz, a Chicago based movie theater firm which operated theaters throughout the United States. Their theaters exhibited films produced by Paramount Pictures. That firm later became ABC-Great Lakes Theaters and held title to the Granada until 1973. It was then sold through a blind trust to a group who proposed to use it for rock concerts, but that was never realized. Several other potential purchasers attempted to revitalize the Granada between 1973 and 1987. None were successful. In 1988, an agreement was reached whereby it was acquired by Senior Life Styles Corporation. They demolished the building in 1989 and plan to construct an apartment/commercial structure on the site in 1990. An earlier plan to incorporate a portion of the theater into the new structure proved to be unfeassible (sic).
The primary reasons for the buildings historical significance are 1) its size, it is one of the three largest movie theaters ever built in Chicago, the others being the Uptown and the Chicago Theaters; 2) its elaborate design, often cited as the most ornate in the City; 3) its place as the “flagship” of the movie empire of the Marks Brothers of Chicago, who were second only to Balaban and Katz in the construction and operation of opulent movie palaces during the decade of the 1920’s; and 4) its association with its designer, Edward E. Eichenbaum, who went on to design numerous other similar theaters after completing the Granada, his first theater design.
The Granada had survived in essentially unaltered condition until the past two years (1988-89), when it was left unattended and the weather and vandalism were allowed to proceed unchecked. Today, it is largely in ruins. None of the building’s systems are operable and virtually any salvageable part of the interior which could be removed has been stolen. Water damage has been particularly harmful and most surfaces have some degree of damage.
When the Granada was opened in 1926, its location at a major elevated train stop and at the confluence of several bus lines, plus the presence of a large parking lot, provided all the convenience of location desired. Today, this is not enough. The theater is difficult to reach and parking is non-existent.
PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION
A. General Information
1. Architectural Merit and Interest: The Granada Theater is of architectural merit based on the sophistication of its planning and ornamentation. The building is large, seating 3,422, yet located on a relatively small site. This required the auditorium to be sited parallel to the street, with the main lobby, located at the rear of the auditorium, to be entered from the Sheridan Road side, hence an “L” shaped footprint. A strip of storefronts with office space above was built between the street and the auditorium. This compact but efficient structure was then embellished with elaborate ornament inside and out.
2. Condition of Fabric: Good (prior to recent extensive vandalism on the interior). The Granada was scheduled for demolition in 1989.
3. Summary Description: The Granada Theater is nominally a three-story structure, although very high (92′), with a massive ornate terra cotta primary elevation facing west on Sheridan Road. Immediately to the left (north) of the entrance is a strip of five storefronts with two floors of rental offices above, all clad in terra cotta, and separated from the auditorium by a ten foot wide areaway. Originally, the theater was designed with a ninety-three foot wide rectangular marquee with literally thousands of electric lights. This was reduced in size, circa 1940, to the present smaller trapezodial marquee. The original vertical “Granada” sign which extended nearly 130 feet high was also removed at that time. The south, east and north elevations are essentially unadorned brick with minimal feneatration (sic). The interior of the Granada consists of two major elements, the 3422 seat auditorium, and the public spaces to the rear of the auditorium just behind the great entrance. The auditorium consists of a column free space on the main floor with a wide balcony extending over the rear one third of seats. The balcony extends back to the upper wall of the huge public lobby space at the rear of the auditorium and is entered from the ticket lobby at the west just inside the entrance. From the ticket lobby, patrons can either ascend the stairs to the second floor (mezzanine) level or enter the main floor of the grand lobby. This lobby space is 153 deep and 59 feet wide, with a vaulted ceiling 59 feet high. To the left (north) are a series of doors under the second floor promenade leading to the main floor of the auditorium. At the east end of the grand lobby is a marble staircase leading to the second floor and then to the lower balcony. Stairs at either end of the second floor lead to the upper levels of the balcony of the auditorium.
Both the grand lobby and the auditorium are encrusted with elaborate plaster ornament modeled in a “moorish” style. The ceilings are coffered with both octagonal and hexagonal plastered elements. Columns are generally finished in scagliola while the floors and much of the wainscoting is in marble. Virtually every surface is ornamented. Elaborate crystal chandeliers (now missing) once served to light each of the principal spaces.
Generally, the Granada remained in reasonably good condition until early in 1988, when vandalism and water infiltration began to take its toll.
Today, much of the interior has been damages and a great deal of original material has been taken from the building. The ravages of time have rendered all of the mechanical and electrical equipment inoperative.
Part 2 here.
Visit the Granada Theater’s link at Cinema Treasures here.
Tags: american buildings survey, architectural firm, Balaban and Katz, Chicago, Chicago Movie Theaters, chicago movie theaters chicago movie theater, chicago movie theatres, Edward F. Eichenbaum, Film, Granada Theater, historical narrative, illinois, Lewis Marks, Meyer Marks, Movie, Movie Theater, Movie Theater History, moving pictures, north sheridan road, The Marks Brothers, Wilbert R. HasbrouckShare: 
Filed Under Uncategorized
Comments
2 Responses to “Chicago Movie Palaces: GRANADA THEATRE (1926 - 1989) Part 1”
Leave a Reply
What can I say? Twas a gorgeous theatre. I however am too young to have known it in its heyday. Best I can tell you is that I did get to visit in there via my college years as a fellow photo student was making it his photo archive project of sorts right up to the day they knocked it down. Actually the word was he was in the building when they were starting to take the bulldozer to it.
Only other memorable detail was when it collapsed it didn’t fall inwards like they planned but actually blew back onto the CTA tracks which shut the red line down for a day!
Otherwise, the hole-in-the-wall bar called Rodity’s next door was an old high school hang out
and I’ve got a bootleg of a PIL concert that was performed there in 82′ but that’s about it.
Did you at least get to watch a movie there? The last one I remember them showing was a special screening of “The Kids Are Alright” in 1979.