Arthouse Houston, Wes Anderson, and others rally to restore Garden Oaks Theater

When Garden Oaks theater in Houston opened in 1947, it had all the post-war fixings of a movie theater from its time: a tall blade sign, backlit marquee, an interior muraled with trees and floral motifs with vine patterns extending onto terrazzo flooring. Where its sister theater, River Oaks, has always operated as a movie theater, Garden Oaks was bought out by a church in the 1990s putting its theatrical settings aside. A preservation campaign is now fundraising to renovate Garden Oaks into an arts community center and back to its roots as a movie theater. To support the campaign, local nonprofit Arthouse Houston, which is leading the charge, is working with Preservation Houston, Gensler, and filmmaker Wes Anderson.

Arthouse Houston is hoping to raise a total of $14 million by July 30 to revive the cinema. Of that total, $7.1 million is reserved for the purchase of the building from its current owners, Heights Equity Trust and Sage Equity Partners, and $6.9 million will go toward renovations and restoration.

black and white image of Garden Oaks Theater — Archival photo of the Garden Oaks Theater sometime in the late 1940s (Courtesy Arthouse Houston)

Arthouse Houston previously led a campaign to restore River Oaks theater, when a developer had plans for it to be demolished to make way for a residential high-rise. After that successful campaign, now, Arthouse Houston is back again to halt the demolition of Garden Oaks. Garden Oaks was designed by Dallas-based firm Pettigrew & Worley within a low-lying structure along North Shepherd Drive that also previously housed a pharmacy, post office, and Five and Dime shop. Inside it is an art deco lobby and a 783-seat theater.

Earlier this summer, Gensler’s Stephanie Burritt toured Garden Oak. Gensler later worked with the nonprofit to generate renderings of a proposed restoration, Arthouse Houston cofounder and president Maureen McNamara told AN.

black and white image of Garden Oaks Theater lobby — Archival photo of the art deco lobby (Courtesy Arthouse Houston)

“We’re expecting that the renovation would be very preservation minded and would both protect the features still there and also reconstruct some of the features that have been lost based on what we see in old photographs and other documentation,” said Emily Ardoin, the Preservation Services Director of Preservation Houston.

black and white image of the theater — An archival photo of the single-screen theater (Courtesy Arthouse Houston)

rendering of the restored theater — The restoration hopes to bring the botanical flourishes back to their former glory (Arthouse Houston)

In the 1990s, the Garden Oaks was bought and used by Grace Church. (Google Maps)

Where its sister theater, River Oaks, has always operated as a movie theater, Garden Oaks was used as a church in recent years, framing its memory and community as such. Garden Oak’s original shopfront windows were sealed to make room for Sunday school classrooms and the blade sign was changed. Last year, Heights Equity Trust and Sage Equity quietly bought it with plans that indicated imminent demolition and its around that time that Arthouse Houston stepped in. “We just barely stepped in front of the wrecking ball,” McNamara said.

rendering of the restored exterior of Garden Oaks Theater — A rendering of the new Garden Oaks with its reimagined commercial lot (Courtesy Arthouse Houston)

Arthouse Houston envisions a transformation of the entire building that encompasses Garden Oaks. Through the renovation, they hope to uncover original features that are likely still there, like the marquee underneath the stucco. As depicted in renderings a retro soda fountain/cafe is planned to return adjacent to the theater and where the original Five and Dime and post office stood the preservation group would like to install makerspaces and classrooms for art education.

wes anderson talking with people at a table — *Bottle Rocket* and *Rushmore*, the first two feature films by Wes Anderson (right), were shot in Texas. Also pictured are Texan brothers and actors Luke Wilson (center) and Owen Wilson (left). (Courtesy Arthouse Houston)

Arthouse Houston has tapped Texas native and Oscar Winning–filmmaker Wes Anderson for support. Tonight, July 17, is the Wes Anderson Homecoming Soiree, a benefit gala at the Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. The soirée marks the 30th anniversary of Anderson’s debut feature film, Bottle Rocket. The event will screen the original short film of the same name in addition to four of his other shorts. Anderson will take the stage for a sold-out, pre-show Q&A, and a gala auction will sell autographed memorabilia from the filmmaker as well as experiences with filmmakers John Waters and John Cameron Mitchell.