| 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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