The Granville Arts Center's Last Holiday Season Before Its 2027 Closure: What's On Stage in Downtown Garland
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
Sit down in Brownlee Auditorium this December and look up. The curved wood ceiling over the audience has been there since the Granville Arts Center opened in 1982. The green seats around you and the dusty rose wallpaper on the side walls belong to the same building. Starting in 2027, the seats get replaced and the wallpaper comes down. Only the ceiling and the green upholstery color stay.
City staff said the building will close for all of 2027 so crews can renovate it in one stretch, and the City expects to reopen it in 2028. The Richardson-Garland Herald noted that the timeline could still change. That makes the stretch between now and Dec. 19 the last holiday season in the Granville as Garland has known it. Because the renovated hall will hold fewer people, the last shows in the old one are also the hardest seats in town to get this year.
The work costs $25 million and is paid for through Proposition C of the 2025 Grow Garland Bond Program, which voters approved in May 2025. In January the City surveyed the public, and people complained about uncomfortable seats, long rows with no center aisle, limited wheelchair seating and crowded lobbies at intermission. Better seating was the top request, the Herald reported.
Wider seats mean fewer of them. The architects showed the trade-off at the City Council's Oct. 5 work session:
Accessible seating will be spread across the room, from side to side and front to back, and an accessible path will lead to the stage. A level route from the cross aisle to the stage handles access in the Brownlee. Sound and light locks at every Brownlee entrance should cut down on the noise and light that now spill into a show whenever someone opens a door. According to the City's Oct. 16 announcement, Garland Summer Musicals, Garland Civic Theatre and Garland Symphony Orchestra all had input on the design.
At the work session, a council member asked how often shows actually sell out. City staff said a full house in the Brownlee is currently 720 tickets, that several groups regularly sell more than 500, and that sellouts do happen at certain times of year. When the council asked about a farewell celebration, staff pointed to one December date:
"We do have our special performance with Blind Boys of Alabama and Asleep at the Wheel on Thursday, December 17th, which will sell out."
Staff said this at the Oct. 5 council work session and urged people to buy tickets right away. They also named Mexico 2000 with Navidad en Mexico on Saturday, Dec. 19, as the last official show in the building.
Here is the holiday schedule from the Granville's calendar, starting Sunday, Nov. 15.
The two big Nutcracker weekends overlap with Garland Civic Theatre's last holiday show in the Small Theatre. If you want to see two shows in one weekend, Dec. 4–6 or Dec. 11–13 will do it.
Opening night for the Dallas Ballet Company Nutcracker and the Civic Theatre's Pageant falls on the same evening as Christmas on the Square. That event runs 5 to 9 p.m. with a tree lighting, Santa photos, food, artisan crafts, lights and children's train rides. Dec. 4 is also a first Friday, which puts it on the calendar for the Music Made Here concert series. A short walk away, Company of Rowlett Performers opens Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol at the Plaza Theatre the same weekend and runs it Dec. 4–6 and Dec. 11–13.
With that many crowds on the Square in one evening, it helps to plan dinner and parking around your curtain time. The Square has several options within a few blocks of the Granville:
Visit Garland also lists Lola's Tapas Cafe & Wine at 708 Main St. and The Owl Icehouse at 519 W. State St. In June, the City counted most of these businesses among the ones the renovated Square had drawn downtown. If Dec. 4 is too crowded, the Urban Market's Food & Finds pop-ups take over the Square on the second Saturdays, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12. The Dec. 12 market falls on the Green Cast weekend of the Nutcracker.
When the Granville goes dark, its resident groups will stay downtown in other venues. City staff told the council that Garland Civic Theatre will move its 2027 productions to the Plaza Theatre, and the Garland Symphony Orchestra will perform at The Atrium. The Civic Theatre's Season 59 schedule already reflects the change, with the first three shows at the Granville and the last three at the Plaza Theatre. The City has also looked at venues run by Garland ISD and Parks and Recreation, and at booking space a year ahead, to help other groups through the closure.
At the same meeting, staff mentioned a possible chance, around the end of the year, for audiences or arts groups to "take a little piece of the Granville with them" during construction. They asked people to stay tuned. Construction is expected to begin early in 2027. When the Granville reopens, you'll come in through a new Austin Street entrance, sit in wider green seats with a better view of the stage, and find the same wood ceiling overhead.
If you're picking your last show at the old Granville, or wondering what the bond projects downtown mean for your corner of Garland, I'm always happy to talk it through. Bonita Love follows what's changing around the Square, and I'd love to hear which holiday show you're planning to see. Let's Connect.
Whether you’re buying or selling, Bonita Love brings over 10 years of real estate experience, strategic guidance, and personalized service to make your DFW real estate journey seamless and successful.
