Emporia Granada Theatre

The Granada Theatre opened in Emporia, Kansas, on October third, nineteen twenty-nine, just weeks before the stock market crashed. It cost three hundred and fifty thousand dollars to build, seats fourteen hundred people, and was designed by the Boller Brothers of Kansas City in Spanish Colonial Revival style, with ornate tile work and a marquee that could be seen from blocks away. The dedication speech was given by William Allen White, the famous editor of the Emporia Gazette, who called the building a civic asset and went by the nickname the Sage of Emporia.

For decades the Granada screened films, hosted vaudeville acts, and staged beauty contests. It went dark in nineteen eighty-two and faced demolition until local businesspeople rallied in nineteen ninety-four to save it. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in nineteen eighty-five and continues to operate today as a performing arts venue.