| Architect:
L.R. Wardrop.
Contractor: McNeill and Trainer of
Calgary
Original cost: $600,000 -
$700,000
Original
owner:
Senator James Lougheed. Lougheed was
one of Calgary's early lawyers, a land agent for the Canadian Pacific
Railway and Hudson's Bay Company, real estate developer, director of the
Canada Life Assurance Company, founding member of the Ranchmen's Club and
the Law Society of Alberta. In 1911 Lougheed established a financial
brokerage company, Lougheed and Taylor. The firm owned the Lougheed
Building, Empire Block, Clarence Block, Norman Block, Turner Block,
Alexander Corner and the Glanville Block. As a senator for 36 years and a
federal cabinet minister, he played a key role in the history of Calgary
and Alberta. He was knighted in 1917 by King George V.
Construction materials:
Medicine Hat brick, sandstone and
concrete facade.
Architectural style:
Classical commercial. Six storeys.
Giant pilasters at every second bay and a decorative tin cornice.
Original interior
details:
Theatre had a seating capacity of
1,500 and one of the largest stages in the country. Elaborate interior
design; brass rails, velvet curtains, two tiers of private balcony boxes
and ornate plaster work.
Historical highlights:
- The Lougheed Block was built as a
multi - purpose commercial building, accommodating retail stores,
offices, living quarters and on the ground floor, the Sherman Grand
Theatre. The second and third floors were arranged as commercial sample
rooms for wholesalers and jobbers. The upper storeys were divided into 2
and 3 room residential suites.
-
The
Sherman Grand, built as a legitimate vaudeville theatre, was operated by
owner Senator James Lougheed as part of the Orpheum circuit until his
death in 1925.
-
"The
Show Place of Alberta" was first managed by William B. Sherman, one of
Calgary's most colourful theatre personalities. During his career,
Sherman managed Hull's Opera House and the Lyric Theatre. He jointly
managed several theatre companies and the Sherman Roller Rink.
- Other managers following Sherman
included George Dumond, Jeffrey Lydiatt, Maynard Joiner and John
Hazza.
- Opening night at the Sherman Grand
Opera House featured Forbes Robertson in Jerome K. Jerome's Passing of
the Third Floor Back. Ticket prices ranged from $1 to $5. Female ushers
in smart black and white uniforms, seated the more than 1500 people who
attended the inaugural performance. The Lougheed box was decorated with
" a bower of yellow daffodils."
- The first season included Cecil B.
De Mille's extravagant production of the play Stampede.
- On August 15, 1926 Famous Players
Canadian Corporation leased the theatre.
- During the Twenties and Thirties
the United Farmers of Alberta, United Grain Growers and Board of Trade had offices in the Lougheed
Building. Accountant George Touche, Judge Walsh and A.W. Dingman were
also tenants.
- In 1936 the Grand was sold to the
Grand Theatre Syndicate and subsequently leased to J.B.Barron's Trans -
Canada Theatre Company. It became primarily a motion picture house but
continued to offer vaudeville, stage, road shows and concert series.
Frank Holroyd, an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects
was appointed art director. Interior renovations included an overhaul of
scenery, props and stage equipment, installation of modern stage
lighting and removal of seats and walls for the construction of a new
projection room.
- Renovations costing $50,000 were
completed in 1947. The modernization, designed by Calgary architect
J.M.Cawston, included relocation of the box office, addition of new
marquee and entrance, new seating and the installation of the first
electronic doors in North America. Two years later Cawston worked on the
Barron Building and Uptown Theatre.
- During a 1965 interior renovation
with a $500,000 price tag, the stage and much of the original ornate
decor was encased or removed.
- In 1969, Barron Enterprises sold
the Grand, along with three other Calgary movie theatres, to the Odeon
organization.
- In 1972 the Grand was converted
into a side by side twin cinema, horizontally dividing the original
theatre hall.
- Theatre acquired in 1983 by the
Cineplex Odeon Corporation.
- Renovated and re-named the
Showcase Grand, it re - opened December 1985 with A Chorus Line and Out
of Africa. Alterations included two redesigned auditoriums with a
combined seating capacity of 1,200. The new facilities were equipped
with 70 mm wide screen projection and Dolby stereo sound. Lobby and
concession counters were enlarged.
- In 1991 the decorative tin cornice
was removed from the Lougheed building.
- Over the years the Grand featured
a wide variety of entertainment; plays, musical comedies, Calgary little
theatre productions, operas, symphony concerts, public lectures,
minstrel shows and political rallies.
- Many renowned actors and theatre
companies performed on the Grand's stage, which was one of the four
largest in Canada. Sarah Bernhardt played in "Champ d'Honneur and
portions of Dumas' "Lucretia Borgia". Lawrence Irving appeared with his
wife in "Typhoon" only weeks before his death on the Titanic. The
Dumbells, Sophie Tucker, Ethel Barrymore, Marx Brothers, George Burns
and Gracie Allen, Fred and Adele Astaire all appeared at the Grand.
- The Grand, Calgary oldest
operating theatre, was built ten years before the Palace. It is the
oldest theatre of its kind west of Winnipeg and one of the few remaining
examples of a legitimate Canadian vaudeville house built before World
War I.
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