Preservation Houston’s Watch List identifies significant historic buildings facing change or potential loss. Many can be adapted and reused using local, state or federal preservation incentives that reward stewardship and support smart redevelopment. We work with property owners and project teams to encourage viable preservation strategies and provide updates as these sites move through moments of transition.

Garden Oaks Theater (later Grace Church, 1947, Pettigrew & Worley) / *PH file*

Sign a petition showing your support for the Garden Oaks

The Garden Oaks Theater at 3750 North Shepherd Drive opened July 10, 1947, as a neighborhood cinema developed by Interstate Theatres. Designed by Pettigrew & Worley, the 783-seat theater served as a 28-day sub-run house and quickly became a visual anchor along the North Shepherd corridor.

With its vertical blade sign and crisp lines, the theater presented a distinctly postwar profile to the street. Inside, terrazzo floors, murals and indirect lighting reflected the era’s Deco-influenced modernism. The building operated as a movie theater into the 1990s before being sold to a church. Through those changes, its defining exterior features — and much of its interior — have remained intact.

The property sold in October 2025 to Heights Equity Trust and Sage Equity Partners and is currently vacant. The theater carries no local landmark designation and has no formal protection against demolition. Arthouse Houston, a nonprofit supporting Houston’s artistic film community and historic cinema spaces, has confirmed that the new owners plan to raze the building. The city of Houston has issued a sewer disconnection permit for the property, which is typically one of the final administrative steps before a building comes down.

The Garden Oaks Theater represents a rapidly disappearing building type in Houston: the mid-20th-century neighborhood movie house. Comparable theaters have been lost in recent years, while others have demonstrated that rehabilitation can successfully anchor broader redevelopment efforts. The building retains significant architectural features that could support adaptive reuse.

Preservation Houston is working with community partners including Arthouse Houston to monitor the situation and encourage thoughtful consideration of reuse options. We will continue to share updates as more information becomes available.