The theater entrance rose to a tall rounded parapet flanked by twin octagonal towers with finialed cupolas, the whole front sheathed in polychrome terra cotta — braided pilasters, urns, scrollwork, and a broad latticed lunette framing three arched windows. A long marquee lettered "GRANADA," outlined in bulbs, spanned the entrance. A lower two-story brick commercial wing ran alongside to the left, each bay capped by a small terra-cotta-crested gable and shaded by striped awnings, with shopfronts and a ticket booth at the sidewalk.
The Granada Theatre opened on September 29, 1927 with Ronald Colman's "Beau Geste," a Spanish Baroque movie palace on Gravois Avenue in the Bevo neighborhood, designed by Edward P. Rupert and seating about 1,585. Built by the Skouras brothers and Harry Koplar, it opened under the St. Louis Amusement Company and passed to the Warner Bros. circuit in 1928, later to Arthur Enterprises. It ran until June 19, 1986, when it closed after part of the roof and the rear stage wall collapsed in a storm and repairs proved too costly. The theater was demolished in December 1992 despite preservation efforts; the National Building Arts Center salvaged and preserved elements of its terra-cotta facade.
