Loew's Grand Theatre

'''Loew's Grand Theater''', originally '''DeGive's Grand Opera House''', was a [[movie theater]] at the corner of [[Peachtree Street|Peachtree]] and Forsyth Streets in [[downtown Atlanta|downtown]] [[Atlanta, Georgia]], in the [[United States]]. It was most famous as the site of the 1939 [[premiere]] of ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'', which was attended by the stars of the film, except for the African Americans who appeared in it, and who were also excluded from being in the [[souvenir program]]. (They were to be [[Racial segregation|segregated]] and be in the colored-only regions if they were to be present in the theatres at all.) It concentrated on showing films made or released by [[MGM]], a [[Loews]]-owned studio. Although the [[United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.]] case [[divest]]ed studios of ownership of theater chains in 1948, many MGM films made afterwards still had their first showings in Atlanta at this theater, including ''[[Singin' in the Rain]]'', the 1959 ''[[Ben-Hur (1959 film)|Ben-Hur]]'' and ''[[Doctor Zhivago (film)|Doctor Zhivago]]''. The theater was built as DeGive's Grand Opera House in 1893 by entrepreneur and Belgian consul [[Laurent DeGive]], and hosted many concerts and touring opera productions. (It is often confused with [[DeGive's Opera House|DeGive's first opera house]], which opened in 1870, four blocks south, at the corner of [[Marietta, Georgia|Marietta]] and Forsyth Streets. The confusion is understandable, as DeGive had his name carved prominently above the entrance of the Grand Theater. The Grand was bought by the Loews organization in 1927and [[renovate]]d into a movie theater by [[architect]] [[Thomas W. Lamb]]. The one-screen theater had 2088 seats. It was extensively damaged as the result of a fire on January 30, 1978. Although the real estate where the theater had stood was of high value, the theater could not be [[demolish]]ed because of its [[historic]] status. This led many to speculate that the cause of the fire was [[arson]] {{Citation needed|date=June 2008}}, although this speculation has never been proven. The [[Georgia-Pacific Tower]] was built on the former site of the theater. [[Brick]]s from the building were [[recycle]]d and used to build a popular Atlanta [[restaurant]], Houston's (five miles North, at 2166 Peachtree) which features a plaque of remembrance of the theater in the waiting area of its original location. A [[chandelier]] from the building now hangs prominently at the center of [[The Tabernacle]], a [[Church (building)|church]] turned [[concert venue]] in Atlanta. ==External links== *[http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/store/Products/80063-grand-opera-house.aspx Grand Opera House photo] *[http://atlantatimemachine.com/downtown/loews_grand.htm Photos of the Loew's Grand, including several taken in the aftermath of the 1978 fire that led to its eventual demolition] {{Atlanta landmarks}} {{coord missing|Georgia (U.S. state)}}