A developer is restoring the old Grand Theater on Del Paso Boulevard in north Sacramento.
According to the Sacramento Public Library, the theater, located in the 1900 block of Del Paso Boulevard, operated from 1943 to 1960.
"I remember the theater when it was rocking and rolling," said resident Jay King
After it closed, a church called Evangel Temple purchased the building in 1962.
"It was a beautiful movie theater, then it was a church," King said.
After the church left, the building was boarded up and stayed empty for years. Some say it was forgotten, just like the neighborhood it was in.
"The epidemic of the crack cocaine hit these areas hard; these low-income neighborhoods hard." King said. "They just started dwindling down."
A developer purchased the building several months ago and is planning on restoring it.
"It's multicultural," King said. "What you're seeing is a partnership between cultures and races and religions and ideologies. You're watching them come together to create greatness."
Robin Jefferson said she hopes the plans go through to restore the theater.
"It would give interest where the movies are," Jefferson said. "Something that everyone can come as a family."
The developer hopes to have the building ready spring 2019.
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