Comedy shows, films and concerts planned for cinema
Published in the April 30 – May 13, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
The Granada Preservation Society intends to open the downtown cinema to host films and other events this summer. A Morgan Hill Downtown Association mixer is scheduled for June 2 at the Granada.
Photo by Marty Cheek
Six months after starting upgrade work to meet ADA-compliance standards to reopen the Granada Theater, the Granada Preservation Society plans to welcome the public to see how much progress has been made in turning the iconic downtown Morgan Hill cinema into a community entertainment venue. The group will host a Morgan Hill Downtown Association mixer June 2 at the Granada to show off how far it has gone.
“It’ll be kind of like an open house preview of what the theater looks like now,” said Renee Carrillo, chair of the society. “We’ve come pretty far. We haven’t done much remodeling because we’re trying to keep it as a time capsule while doing the necessary upgrades. The mixer gives the community a first-hand idea of what the theater looks like and what we’ve done.”
The society took control of the theater Dec. 1 with a one-year lease it signed with the city. In the past few months, it has worked with construction and plumbing crews to bring the restrooms up to the American with Disabilities Act code, a mandatory requirement before the theater could be used for screenings of movies and cultural arts performances.
The first Granada Theater was built in the 1920s and is now the site of The Hill Bar & Grill. Morgan Hill’s second Granada Theater opened June 22, 1951 with 650 seats. It originally had a full stage area that often served as a live theater and was also used for church meetings. In 1980, the theater was “twinned” to include two auditoriums.
The first films shown at the newly opened Granada Theater will be classic movies in the public domain, Carrillo said. Other plans include making it a venue for concerts, stand-up comedy and improv performances, and educational lectures. No specific film showings or live performances have been set yet, Carrillo said, but the group is looking at bringing tribute rock bands to perform at the Granada.
The theater will also serve as the “permanent home” of the Poppy Jasper International Short Film Festival, Carrillo said. Last year, the festival celebrated its 10th year of showing short films.
The Granada Preservation Society plans to work with local schools in developing a Youth Empowerment Program where students will be able to go through workshops in acting, directing and other entertainment pursuits, she said.
“One of the endeavors of the preservation society is that we want to provide a great theater for movies and live talent, but also be of service to the community,” Carrillo said. “Within the Youth Empowerment Program, we’ll be offering free acting and directing classes and courses. We actually have a director from New York who is spearheading that. It’ll be at no cost to students and we’re going to go and contact Sobrato and Live Oak and the high schools and invite any kid who wants to take a course during the summer.”
As part of this program, the theater will also be opened to local student bands to perform concerts as fundraisers for school activities, Carrillo said.
Despite the many hours of work being put into the Granada by the preservation society volunteers, a cloud of uncertainty looms over the fate of the theater when the lease terminates. The city now manages the Granada as part of the Economic Development Corporation, which took over from the Redevelopment Agency. The EDC intends to put the theater and adjacent property on the real estate market, so there is a potential that a developer might buy the property and tear the building down and replace it with another business.
“We’re definitely aware that can happen,” Carrillo said. “The only comment I have is we’re going to open up and show some classic films and have some concerts and hopefully generate enough interest in our community for our theater to support us and help us out. And maybe it will show our city officials that it’s worth keeping as a landmark and as a money-generating venue. Maybe it is worth not knocking down.”
The preservation society has also considered getting on the bidding list and purchasing the building as a joint group, she said.
One society fundraiser now going on is a Home Chefs of Morgan Hill community cookbook. Two hundred copies of this locally-produced recipe collection will be sold for $15 at BookSmart and The Happy Spatula in downtown Morgan Hill. For more information on this project, call Patty Curtis at (408) 710-9636 or email her at [email protected].
