Grand Lake Theatre

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The Grand Lake Theatre is a historic movie palace located at 3200 Grand Avenue and Lake Park Avenue in the Grand Lake neighborhood of Oakland, California.HistoryThe Grand Lake Theater, designed as a single auditorium theater by Architects Reid Brothers for local businessmen Abraham C. Karski and Louis Kaliski, held its grand opening on March 6, 1926. On August 1, 1929, Abraham C. Karski and Louis Kaliski leased the theater to West Coast Theatres, Inc. for a period of 94 years, 4 months until November 30, 2023. The theater is still owned by descendants of Abraham C. Karski and Louis Kaliski; and is still under the original lease terms although the lease has been assigned twice (to Mann Theaters Corporation of California (who later became National General Theaters, Inc.) in 1973 and to the current tenant Renaissance Rialto, Inc. in 1980.)After the Grand Lake Theater opened on March 6, 1926, it held vaudeville and silent movie showings, but with the arrival of "talkies" it began to exclusively show sound films. The original Wurlitzer Hope Jones Unified Orchestral Organ by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. of San Francisco still stands in the main auditorium. The original phone number for the theater was Glencourt 3100 and the original ticket prices were 40 cents for night and Sunday matinees in the orchestra and balcony, 50 cents for the loges, 25 cents for daily matinees, and 10 cents for children at any performance.The theater's exterior is surmounted by a giant illuminated rooftop sign which was originally furnished by Brumfield Electric Sign Co., Inc. Neoclassical faux columns and urns line the main interior space and the ceiling is adorned with a crystal chandelier in the lobby and classical frescos in the auditorium. The theater's interior artwork is considered to be Art Deco.