The Garden Theater Closed in 1988. Lincoln Avenue's Holiday Calendar Still Runs Through It

"Every year, I love watching children's faces light up when they find a book that speaks to them," Rebecca Morgan, founder of Books for Treats, said in the Willow Glen Business Association's announcement of this year's Halloween giveaway.

On Friday, October 30, volunteers from the nonprofit will help each child pick out one free book. The giveaway will be at the Garden Theater, 1165 Lincoln Avenue. The building hasn't shown a movie since 1988. Its auditorium was gutted more than three decades ago. Even so, the WGBA's holiday calendar keeps sending people there. Of the six dated events on its calendar between Halloween and the last weekend before Christmas, three take place inside it. The building's history explains why.

Thirty-Nine Years of Films, Thirty-Seven Without Them

The Garden Theatre opened on June 22, 1949. According to the City of San José's historic signage guide, owners Ben Levin and Jimmy Lima "seemed to spare no expense." The theater had a tile and etched-glass box office and chandeliers in the auditorium, and its name sat inside a giant neon flower whose animated leaves flashed at night.

Its working life as a cinema played out in a few clear stages:

1. 1949: Opens with Levin and Lima as owners.
2. Mid-1970s: Changes hands and switches to Spanish-language films, according to Cinema Treasures.
3. 1988: Closes as a theater, after staying "virtually unchanged for nearly 40 years," in the city's words.
4. 1989: The building is converted to retail use.

That makes 39 years as a movie house. By this December it will have spent 37 years as something else, so its second life has almost caught up with its first. Inside, it is now a mixed-use building with restaurants and shops on the ground floor and two floors of offices above. From the sidewalk, it still looks like a theater.

What the 1989 Conversion Kept

When the building became retail space, the auditorium was gutted. The facade, the marquee and the vertical sign stayed, according to Cinema Treasures. The city's signage guide calls this the "happy ending" of the story. It credits developer Michael Mulcahy and SDS NexGen Partners with choosing to keep and restore the theater's signage.

Mulcahy's City of San José profile, written now that he represents District 6 on the City Council, lists the Garden Theater as one of several Lincoln Avenue properties he helped rehabilitate.

Keeping the sign mattered for more than appearances. Because the marquee survived, everyone on Lincoln Avenue can find "the Garden Theater" without needing an explanation. An event organizer can put that name on a flyer, and families know exactly which doorway to look for, even though no film has played there since the Reagan administration.

A Building That Keeps Lending Out Its Floor

The holiday events at 1165 Lincoln aren't new. In December 2015, The Mercury News reported on a Santa story time and puppet show coming to the Garden Theater. That was almost eleven years before this season's Santa mornings.

The building has also lent out space outside the holiday season. In 2023, San José Spotlight reported that the owner had let ArtHouse use a vacant retail space there as a youth art gallery for a time. The space was later leased to the chocolate shop aL chocoLat.

Over more than ten years of coverage, the pattern holds steady. The ground floor operates as commercial space, and when the avenue needs a recognizable indoor room for a community event, this building has repeatedly provided one.

The Season, Sorted by Where You'll Be Standing

Here is the WGBA's late-fall and holiday lineup, grouped by location. Garden Theater events come first.

Every indoor event meets under the marquee. Trick-or-treating stretches along the whole avenue, and the Bubbly Walk and the trolley both start at 1245 Lincoln.

October 30, session by session

The trick-or-treat sessions and the book giveaway run at the same times, so families can do both on one trip. The morning session is for toddlers, and the book table serves kindergarten-age children and younger. The afternoon session is for school-age kids, and the books go to children in first through sixth grade. Participating businesses from Minnesota Avenue to Willow Street will hand out candy. The WGBA asks everyone to move clockwise along the route. Books for Treats was founded in 2001 and has been part of Halloween here for more than two decades. It also accepts donations of new or gently used children's books.

November's makers market

The WGBA event page lists the Garden Theatre Fall Makers Market for November 8, noon to 4 p.m. It will feature more than 20 local artists and makers, and no ticket is needed. The listing doesn't give a year, and November 8 falls on a Sunday this year. Check San Jose Makers' channels for the final date before you plan your weekend around it.

December's Santa mornings

Selfies with Santa runs on two weekends, December 12–13 and 19–20, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The photos are free, and donations are accepted.

The two events that start at 1245 Lincoln

The Holiday Bubbly Walk on Saturday, December 5, offers tastings at Lincoln Avenue businesses from 2 to 5 p.m., with check-in at 1245 Lincoln Ave. The next night, the WGBA begins 12 nights of Holiday Trolley Rides that run through December 17. The association is also holding some nights and times for groups that want to book a whole trolley. Pricing and availability for those come through [email protected]. When the page was last updated, tickets were listed as "on sale soon."

The Saturday Constant Down the Avenue

Every one of those events has an end date. The Willow Glen Farmers' Market does not. It sets up at Willow Glen Elementary, 1425 Lincoln Ave., every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., all year, rain or shine. The Urban Village Farmers' Markets updates page says its Saturday and Sunday markets will stay open on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's weekends, though some vendors may take those days off.

That gives the season a simple rhythm along one street. Most weeks start with the market on Saturday morning at 1425 Lincoln. Four of those weekend mornings in December also have Santa at 1165 Lincoln, and the trolley starts each evening of its 12-night run from 1245 Lincoln. On the busiest weekends, all three addresses are active within a few hours of each other.

If your family is getting ready for the Garden Theater giveaway on October 30, or you're curious how the buildings along Lincoln Avenue came to look the way they do, I'm always happy to talk about this stretch of Willow Glen. Alexander Kalla works with neighbors across San Jose, in English, Spanish, Italian and Hindi. Let's Connect.