Theatre Junction GRAND, Calgary

The GRAND as it is corporately styled is an ancient theatre building used today as a hub for contemporary performing arts. This building is Calgary’s culturehouse and is a part of Lougheed Block.

Also known as The Sherman Grand Opera House, The Grand, owned by Lougheed and Taylor, was constructed in 1912 by architect L.R. Wardrop. Originally, this building served many purposes and housed a variety of offices, retail stores and living quarters on the ground level and the Sherman Grand Theatre.

This theatre attracted many celebrity stars such as Sarah Bernhardt, Marx Brothers, Ethel Barrymore, Fred Astaire, Paul Robeson, Arthur Rubinstein and George Burns predominantly due to its reputation of being one of the best theatres in the Pacific Northwest.

This complex saw a lot of political and social activities. Many important political debates, rallies and speeches were held here by both Conservative and Liberal Parties. The original theatre has a main floor and a gallery that combined to seat 1,350 people.

In the days when it first came into existence, this theatre was well known for its modern setting and convenient features such as electric lighting and hot and cold water in all fifteen changing rooms. The automatic sprinkler here was indeed a luxury. Be sure to visit this interesting structure on your trip to Calgary.