Overview

Opened as the Grand Riviera Theatre in late August 1925, the theatre was designed by noted architect John Eberson in an Atmospheric style with a Italian theme, the auditorium resembling a spectacular outdoor palazzo. The theatre took its name from its location on Grand River Avenue.

Auditorium in the late 1920s

The 3,000-seat theatre opened with the movie The Desert Flower (1925)  starring Colleen Moore. The theatre was equipped with a Robert Morton 3-manual 10-rank theatre organ.

The theatre’s soaring grand lobby was as stunning as the auditorium, complete with a grand marble staircase and three great arched windows over the front doors.

The theatre was so successful that in 1927, the Annex Theatre was opened further up the street to accommodate overflow crowds from the Grand Riviera.

Within a couple years of opening, the theatre was wired for sound. In the early 1930s, “Grand” was removed from the theatre’s name, although it was no reflection on the theatre itself.

In 1957, stage shows replaced movies, however when the remodeled Fisher Theater reopened in 1961 the Riviera lost its role as the city’s preeminent legitimate theatre and returned to exhibiting movies in 1962.

In 1969 the theatre closed as a movie, theatre, however was used until 1974 for rock concerts.

In 1974 the closed theatre awaited its next incarnation, which never came. It quickly began to fall into disrepair, and by the 1990s, was in a serious state of disrepair. By June of 1996 the structure was considered unsafe and the theatre was ultimately demolished later that year.

Since August 2001, the site has been occupied by the Detroit Grand River Social Security Office.

Information in part sourced from Cinema Treasures .