The Granada Theatre in Camas opens its doors on June 14, 1927.

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On June 14, 1927, the Granada Theatre in Camas debuts, showing the silent feature Lost at the Front, a war comedy starring Charlie Murray and George Sidney. The theater is located at 315 N.E. 4th Avenue, and seats approximately 800 people. Camas is located in Clark County in southwestern Washington along the Columbia River.

Costing roughly $75,000 to build, the Granada sported a Moorish/Spanish flavor consistent with its name. The venue was envisioned by architect P. M. Hall Lewis of Portland, with interior work (and a unique Art Deco entryway) designed by Charles Anman, also of Portland. Financing for the project was raised by local Camas men -- C. E. Farrell owned the land, partnering with O. F. Johnson, Roy Young, A. L. Powers, and F. W. Harrington, who operated under the banner of the Community Investment Corporation.

The Granada’s original stage was 25 feet deep and 32 feet wide, with a drop curtain of 22 feet top-to-bottom. The color scheme of the house was blue and gold, and no expense, it seemed, was spared to give the venue a luxurious feel. All told, the interior fixtures and furnishings cost a reported $30,000, which included a $12,000 organ and $6,000 spent on auditorium seating. “The new structure has placed Camas in the foreground of many more pretentious cities in the theatrical world,” boasted the Camas Post-Record, “and is going to prove an enduring monument to the credit of Mr. Farrell in the undertaking and carrying out a project of this type and magnitude” (Post-Record).

And endure the Granada has, albeit under its new name, the Liberty. Despite a fire that gutted the historic theater in 1994, the Farrell family -- who still owned the venue at the time -- lovingly restored Camas’s only movie theater to its former glory.

Sources:
“Liberty (Granada) Theatre, Camas, Washington” Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society Website, (www.pstos.org/instruments/wa/camas/liberty.htm); “History,” Liberty Theater Website, (www.libertytheater.com/history.htm); “Granada Theatre Doors Swing Open,” Camas Post-Record, June 10, 1927, Liberty Theatre Website, Ibid.

By Eric L. Flom, January 26, 2003

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Granada Theatre, Camas, 1927
Courtesy Liberty Theatre

Liberty Theatre (1927), 1998
Courtesy Liberty Theatre