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Opening c. 1890, the Casino Opera House had many names over the years--the Clemmer Casino, Granada Theatre, Riverside Theatre, and Riverside Playhouse. Successful Northwest exhibitor John H. Clemmer (-1911) obtained a lease on the Casino Theatre in 1907, renaming it the "Clemmer Casino Theatre." Following his father's death, Howard S. Clemmer () took over management of the Casino between 1911-1916, when he decided to build a new cinema; the Clemmers maintained control of the Casino. The Spanish Colonial Revivial Style, popular in California during earlier 1920s, filtered into the Pacific Northwest by the late decade. Ownership sought to differentiate their theatre from other movie palaces in town, and chose to renovate it as the Spanish Colonial "Granada Theatre." (Granada was a popular, romantic name for theatres, conjuring exotic Moorish Spain.) The Granada opened on 04/23/1927, and to keep it fresh within the competitive movie exhibition business, it underwent a subsequent remodeling ten years later. The Evergreen movie chain operated four movie theatres in Spokane c. 1941, the Granada being one of them. In the 1950s, the Granada seated 550 people, a modestly scaled facility, and was owned by Favorite Theatres. Adapting to changing tastes away from movie palace romanticism, the venerable entertainment spot rechristened itself the "New Riverside Theatre" beginning 11/21/1955. The New Riverside Theatre quit showing movies in 06/1955, and was reused for community theatre as the "Riverside Playhouse" between 10/1957-04/1967.

Demolished; the Casino Opera House/Granada Theatre/Riverside Theatre closed for good in 04/1967 and was bulldozed to make way for a bank. In 2012, the Intermountain Community Bank operated a branch in the four-story building at 801 West Riverside Avenue. Greater Spokane Incorporated, Spokane's regional chamber of commerce, occupied Suite 100 in the Intermountain Building.

PCAD id: 17835