Architecture

The Granada Theatre, established in 1929, sits proudly in The Dalles, Oregon. The theater featured a moorish revival architecture style when it was first built, meaning it was grandiose, regal, and stood out nicely within the city. The exterior architecture was admired by many, and the interior was enjoyable and comforting. The exterior featured domed towers and arched windows, leaning heavily into the theme. When the 1950s rolled around, it was time for a change in scenery. The Granada had an art deco makeover.

The original Eugene Drive-in, built in 1948, was located at 2860 S. Willamette st. and consisted of one screen and a lot with a capacity of 580 cars. This lot is in the shape of a fan with the point being the screen and the fan shape dedicated to the cars.

Something that really caught my attention while I was doing the research on this theatre was the fact that they would promote the movies that would play that specific night with a lot of cool posters and advertisers, pictures that you can see down bellow, back in Romania we would advertise things in a different manner, commercial wise, also seeing the advertisers in America caught my attention, my friends also they would sometimes do research on a movie and they would find these cool advertisers and teasers for the movies. 

The Pine Motor Drive-in theater was built on 12-acres. Prior to opening, the land was cleared, drained, graded, and graveled in order to provide cars with smooth movement and a clear view of the screen. On entrance, cars entered through a "pine" themed two-lane box office in order to efficiently manage traffic before a show. Loudspeakers as well as Motiograph in-car speakers were used in order to maximize audio output during screenings.

The Lake Theater & Cafe opened on March 23rd, 1940, on Pacific Highway just blocks away from the Oswego city center. The building was designed by Richard Sundeleaf and realtors Murphy & Dean Company. Murphy & Dean Co.

The building that houses the Granada Theatre constitutes a representative example of the architectural evolution of American movie theaters throughout the twentieth century. Its origins date to the 1910s, when it opened as the Star Theatre on September 18, 1917. At that time, its design reflected the functional and restrained aesthetic characteristic of early cinemas.

The Harbor Theatre opened in 1938 as the Florence Theatre. The theatre was located at 1377 Bay St, Florence, Oregon, and the building remains there today. It features a classic art deco style that was reminiscent of classic American theatres built in the 1930’s. The building offered modernity for the time, and the style mirrored those of small town American cinemas across the country.

From the research I have done so far for the Oregon Theater Project, I have noticed a pattern: drive-ins in Oregon were most successful in rural and suburban areas rather than in the hearts of big cities like Portland. These smaller areas offered vast, affordable acreage necessary to support the popularity of cars during the 1950s (mid-century), allowing theaters to act as hubs for families outside the urban center. 

In my research so far for the Oregon Theater Project, I have run into several struggles and triumphs. After we were introduced to the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, I found myself beginning an exhaustive, online scavenger hunt. The Sanborn Maps website itself presents numerous challenges in that the website is not very user friendly. For instance, the window in which the map is featured only presents the map in a small square box and provides and zoom-in feature that only zooms in so far that the feature seems almost useless.