{"id":421543,"date":"2026-08-31T04:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T04:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/421543\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T04:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T04:34:08","slug":"garden-oaks-theatre-faces-demolition-as-community-fights-to-save-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/421543\/","title":{"rendered":"Garden Oaks Theatre faces demolition as community fights to save it"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A historic theater in Houston’s Garden Oaks area is set to be demolished unless community donors come up<\/a> with $1 million by 11:59 p.m. on Monday.<\/p>\n

It’s a lofty goal, but Arthouse Houston and others said they felt it was their duty to do all they can do to preserve the theatre and its history before it was bulldozed to make way for a shopping center.<\/p>\n

The Garden Oaks Theatre first opened its doors in the 40s, and for nearly two decades it was home to Grace Church.<\/p>\n

The director at Arthouse Houston says a developer bought the space for $7 million.<\/p>\n

Since its sale, the building has been sitting empty and gutted, with the lights shut off.<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO: Community protests demolition of historic Garden Oaks Theater<\/a><\/p>\n

A City of Houston notice on the front door of the former theater says it’s approved for demolition.<\/p>\n

“We jumped in front of the wrecking ball is basically what happened,” said Arthouse Houston Cofounder and director Maureen McNamara.<\/p>\n

Arthouse Houston says it’s doing what it can to save the building that once was home to a theatre that meant so much to this community.<\/p>\n

Representatives tell ABC13 they’ve raised a little over $2 million of the $3 million needed by Monday night.<\/p>\n

As the clock ticks, Arthouse Houston members say they’re optimistic that people in the community will pull through to save and preserve the space. They are seeking a loan for the remaining $4 million of the purchase price.<\/p>\n

“As far as we know, this is the last opportunity,” Arthouse Houston Co-founder and Director Maureen McNamara said. “We were told there will be no more extensions, and we are basically in a position where the original contract says that if we are not able to execute the contract, the theater will be demolished.”<\/p>\n

“There is an active demolition permit on the building. That demolition will be continued, and the building will not go back on the market.”<\/p>\n

“I just cannot imagine not doing everything I can that is within my power, our power, and rally the community to get everybody together to save this place,” McNamara told ABC13.<\/p>\n

She says if they’re able to raise the money, they aim to make this space a place for art exhibitions, live performances, live music, and film festival premieres.<\/p>\n

To donate, visit Arthouse Houston’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A historic theater in Houston’s Garden Oaks area is set to be demolished unless…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[146707,56,58,57],"class_list":["post-421543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-146707","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}