Grandview Theater & Drafthouse

It was 1926 when Warner Brothers debuted the first sound film in New York City. It was developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories, and the "talkie" was to replace the orchestra and organ as background music for silent movies. It was this same year that Carl Shafer had the Grandview Theater built on Grandview Avenue south of the newly developing "Bank Block" of Grandview Heights. The new theater, a structure of brick and terra cotta, was built for $75,000 and with a seating capacity of 600. It had the latest projection machines and a pipe organ to accompany silent movies. The marquee was built by the Richard Yaeger Sign Company.

The new theater opened on Saturday, September 4, 1926 and the first attraction was a comedy, "Behind the Front" starring Wallace Berry. The next movie shown was "The Untamed Lady" featuring Gloria Swanson. That same year saw the first completed and credited film of Alfred Hitchcock, "The Pleasure Garden". Among other popular films of the day were "The Great Gatsby" with Warner Baxter along with "The Son of the Sheik", a sequel starring Rudolph Valentino. Greta Garbo, Douglas Fairbanks and John Gilbert were all stars of the era. 1926 was a good year for the movies, and Grandview Heights had a new theater. It remains the oldest, purpose-built movie theater still in use in Columbus, possibly even the oldest in Franklin County.  

At one time, the theater was operated by sound motion picture pioneer and local resident, Theodore Lindenberg. His patented Lindenberg Sound System enhanced the viewing experience. Lindenberg’s hacienda-style home on Lincoln Road is still a local landmark.    

The theater closed in the early 1960s, became an antique store for a short period of time, then reopened in the early 1980s to screen films again. Extensive renovations in 2016, which included adding a bar area, upgrading the theater, and installing a new marquee transformed the building into a neighborhood gathering place once again.

The original theater marquee was removed around 1984 after the collapse of a building cornice in downtown Columbus seriously injured several people including a City Councilman. After that incident, a number of buildings had cornices removed and several local theaters had marquees removed. The new marque was designed by the DaNite Sign Company to resemble the theater’s original projecting marquee. The letter font on the original marquee was traced from a picture so the new marquee could be as historically representative as possible. Aluminum and LED in the new marquee replaced neon glass tubes, porcelain coated steel, and transformers weighing up to 12 lbs in the original marquee significantly lightening the load. 

Lindenberg in Grandview Theater projection room, circa 1933.

Original design above theater door.

Original mosaic tile floor.

Previous Grandview Theater sign installed in the 1980s.

Original 1920s wall stenciling uncovered during 2009 theater renovation.