Montavilla History Questions Answered: The Granada Theatre

Q – I’ve heard that the Highland Christian Center, 7600 NE Glisan Street, used to be a movie theater. Is this true?

A – This is partially true. A portion of the Highland Christian Center complex was once the Granada Theatre. You can still see where that 1924 theater used to be if you stand at the corner of NE Glisan Street and NE 78th. It’s the 1-1/2 story structure at the back. The one-story portion in the front originally housed several small shops. This building complex was designed in 1924 by architect Earl G. Cash for developer George S. Smith. The theater entrance was on Glisan to the right of the shops. From here, theatergoers would walk down a narrow hallway to reach the auditorium.

*_{Southeast corner of NE 78th Avenue and NE Glisan Street with the remodeled 1924 building, which once housed the Granada Theatre (back) and a row of shops (front).}*

Today, the remodeled 1924 building looks plain, but when the Granada opened on August 24, 1924, the Oregon Journal described it as “one of the most luxurious moving picture theatres of Portland’s east side.” In the 1920s, theater architects created exotic designs meant to transport viewers to the magical world of movies. For the Granada, the architect borrowed Moorish elements for the entrance and the auditorium. The grand entrance, of course, is gone, but tiles along the roofline of the former shops are faint echoes of the original design.

*_{Architect’s rendering of the planned Glisan-Street façade for the original 1924 Granada Theatre entrance and storefront}*

*_{Drawing after the Glisan-Street façade}*

The Granada was Montavilla’s third movie theater. Before that, Montavillans went to movies at the Scenic at Stark and 79th (operating from 1910-c. 1918) and a second theater at Stark and 81st that went by various names between about 1912 and 1929.

The managers of the Granada seemed to keep up with advances in cinematography. On April 14, 1929, they premiered the first Montavilla showing of Paramount Picture’s first all-talking film, the murder mystery “Interference.” In December, 1929, the theater began showing feature-length films entirely in color.

The Granada was in continuous operation from 1924 to 1956, outlasting the two earlier Montavilla theaters. To this day, some Montavillans still hold fond memories of going to movies at the Granada.

~ Patricia Sanders ~

This is part of a new segment at Montavilla News called Montavilla History Questions Answered. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future post on this page.