Two old theatres sit a short walk apart on Stephen Avenue, and an afternoon with them costs nothing.
Begin on 8 Avenue SW, the pedestrian stretch locals call Stephen Avenue. At 219 8 Avenue SW you’ll find the Palace Theatre, Stop 34 on the City of Calgary’s downtown heritage brochure. The Allen family built it in 1921, and it’s a National Historic Site of Canada. Stand across the street for a minute and picture opening night. Calgary’s first public radio exhibition happened inside in 1922, and William Aberhart broadcast from its stage in the years after.
From there, stroll toward the GRAND, Stop 39 in the same brochure. It sits in the Lougheed Building at 604 1 Street SW. The GRAND opened in 1912 as the Sherman GRAND, and the city’s brochure notes performers like Sarah Bernhardt and Fred Astaire. That’s reason enough to wander over.
The Calgary Atlas Project at the University of Calgary has a map called Calgary Goes to the Movies, and it shows how many cinemas this city once had. Open it on your phone and see how many of those spots you can find on foot. The heritage walking tour brochure is worth grabbing too.
Try this order. Coffee on Stephen Avenue first. Palace next, then a slow walk to the GRAND. Check thegrandyyc.ca to see if anything’s on, since a show in a room that old changes how you watch. Finish with dinner somewhere warm and argue about your favourite movie.
The price is shoe leather. Calgary keeps its history in plain sight without waving a flag at it, so you have to go look.
Bring a friend and a camera, and treat the sidewalk like a screening.
For a different angle, read Calgary heard its first public radio in a movie theatre. The Pumphouse Theatres Used to Push Water, Not Drama is good too. Or try Hoot Gibson Rode Into Calgary and Made a Stampede Movie for a change of pace.
Quick answers
The Palace Theatre is at 219 8 Avenue SW on Stephen Avenue, the pedestrian stretch of 8 Avenue SW. The Allen family built it in 1921. It is Stop 34 on the City of Calgary’s downtown heritage brochure and a National Historic Site of Canada.
The GRAND is a short stroll from the Palace Theatre. It sits in the Lougheed Building at 604 1 Street SW and is Stop 39 on the City of Calgary’s heritage brochure. It opened in 1912 as the Sherman GRAND, and you can check thegrandyyc.ca for shows.
Start with coffee on Stephen Avenue, visit the Palace next, then walk to the GRAND. The Calgary Atlas Project at the University of Calgary also has a map called Calgary Goes to the Movies, which shows how many cinemas the city once had.
Sources: the City of Calgary heritage walking tour brochure, thegrandyyc.ca and the Calgary Atlas Project at the University of Calgary.
More from the archive: Shakespeare Has Had Quite a Time in Calgary and Six Calgarians Built an Opera Company, and You Should Know Why.
