Downtown movie house owners met while working at the theater in
1948
Through a couple of decades of downtown change, the Granada Theater has mostly stayed the same. It split into two screening rooms and raised its prices a bit but popcorn is still popped and the young still meet friends for the show. And Ed and Irene Enderson are still the owners.
The Endersons, who met at the theater in 1948 when he was the projectionist and she worked the concession stand. They’ve been married for 52 years, still attached to each to each other and to the theater. Irene is 70 and Ed just turned 80.
Now, however, it is time for a change. The years have taken their toll on the old building and it needs an overhaul.
“We have big plans,” Ed said this week. “We’re not just talking about a fresh coat of paint. It needs new seating, too.”
Enderson would also like to recondition the inside, put in new carpeting, upgrade the projection booth, the sound system and the snack bar and restrooms.
To get a little help the Endersons responded to a request for ideas from the city on improving downtown. The Concept Proposal submitted to the city listed the cost for the improvements at around $300,000. Remodeling space into four, 125-seat screening rooms plus the improvements would cost a total of $700,000. It’s the city’s choice.
Cinelux is interested in taking over the building’s lease but is reluctant to undertake such a massive project in an old building without help. The Endersons said they are in no position to invest in the renovation.
What they ask of the Redevelopment Agency is a low-interest loan, grant or combination to help with the renovation. Without renovation, patronage may continue to decline and the theater, Enderson said, may have to close.
In the past, the Endersons have leased the building to operators, most lately Peachtree Cinema, which owned Cinema Six at Tennant Station.
“None of the tenants seem to be keeping it up properly,” Enderson said, “especially Peachtree.”
Now Peachtree is selling Cinema Six to Cinelux and only renting the Granada month-by-month.
“We’re looking for a professional theater operator to take over,” Enderson said. “Cinelux may be interested – they were talking to me but until we find out where we’re going, we can’t do much.”
It was different in 1948. When the couple first met the Granada was actually down the street in the white-painted building next to Rosy’s at the Beach. The old Granada building has been empty for several years and is itself the subject of several RDA project proposals.
By 1951 its 175 seats were too few for the growing town and the owners, Jack and Lillian Hillman, decided to build a new theater up the street. When the new Granada opened in 1952 it had one theater with 635 seats.
In a 1992 interview with a Morgan Hill Times reporter, Irene Enderson said the theater business slumped during the 1950s because of the advent of television but by the 60s and 70s, she said, people were back at the movies.
“On Friday and Saturday nights it didn’t matter what we showed. It was a gathering time,” she said.
“We were the town’s babysitters,” Ed said in the same interview. “We raised everyone else’s kids.”
After their marriage the couple began leasing and managing the theater in 1961 and bought it outright 10 years later, intending to continue running it themselves.
“We didn’t intend to lease it but a gentleman came around in 1971 and wanted to lease it,” Enderson said.
The theater is smack in the middle of downtown, making its success of interest to Dan Craig, director of the Downtown Association. Craig said he has been able to help the Endersons along with their proposal.
“I helped give them a bit of direction and put them in contact with people who could help,” said Craig.
In the meantime, the Granada is open and running and still popping corn.
