Alabama Theatre facts for kids
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| Address | 1817 Third Avenue North Birmingham, Alabama United States |
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| Owner | Birmingham Landmarks, Inc. |
| Type | movie palace |
| Capacity | 2,176 |
| Current use | Performing arts center |
| Opened | December 26, 1927 |
| Website | |
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Alabama Theatre
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| Area | 0.4 acres (0.16 ha) |
| Architect | Graven & Mayger |
| Architectural style | Mission/spanish Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 79000386 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 13, 1979 |
The Alabama Theatre is a beautiful old movie palace in Birmingham, Alabama. A "movie palace" is a very grand and fancy movie theater. It was built in 1927 by a big movie company called Paramount Pictures. They wanted it to be their most important theater in the southeastern United States.
At the time, it could seat 2,500 people. This made it the largest theater in Birmingham's theater district. This area once had many large theaters. They showed vaudeville (live stage shows), performing arts, and early Hollywood films. The Alabama Theatre was built to show silent films, which had no sound. It still has its original special Wurlitzer theater organ today. The Alabama Theatre and the Lyric Theatre are the only old theaters left in the district. Both are still open for shows in 2024.
The Alabama Theatre and its historic organ are very important. They were added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1977. They also joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. These lists recognize places that are important to history. The theater has been studied by the Historic American Buildings Survey many times. In 1993, it was named the official historic theater of Alabama.
History of the Alabama Theatre
Plans to build the Alabama Theatre were announced in 1926. Construction began on April 1, 1927. The grand opening happened on December 26, 1927, just as planned. Building this large concrete and steel theater cost about $1.5 million.
In 1934, a fire destroyed the Loveman's department store next door. Luckily, a thick firewall protected the theater. Only some smoke damage around the air vents was seen. These smoke stains stayed until the theater was restored in 1998.
In its early days, the Alabama Theatre hosted weekly meetings. These were for the local Mickey Mouse Club chapter. The club started in 1933. By 1935, it had over 7,000 members. This made it the world's largest Mickey Mouse Club! Membership grew to more than 18,000 before the club closed.
The Alabama Theatre also hosted beauty pageants. It was home to the Miss Birmingham pageant from 1935 to 1948. Then, it hosted the Miss Alabama pageant from 1949 to 1966.
In the 1960s and 1970s, downtown Birmingham changed. Many movie theaters closed down. In 1981, Plitt Theatres closed the Alabama. They sold it to Cobb Theaters. Cobb tried to reopen it but was not successful. They eventually sold it to Costa and Head. These developers wanted to make downtown better.
Costa and Head started showing classic films at the Alabama. This was somewhat successful. But they faced money problems in 1986.
The Alabama chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS) helped care for the theater's organ. This group wanted to move the organ to save it. But the theater's owners said no. They thought the organ was the most valuable thing in the building. So, the ATOS group started raising money to buy the theater.
In 1987, Birmingham Landmarks, Inc. bought the theater. This group was formed just to save the Alabama Theatre. After the purchase, the theater was renamed the Alabama Theatre for the Performing Arts. In 1993, it became the official state historic theater of Alabama.
In 1998, the Alabama Theatre was fully restored. Workers cleaned or replaced the gold leaf and paint. Seats were replaced or fixed. New carpets and drapes were added. This restoration happened at the same time the old Loveman's building became the McWane Science Center.
Birmingham Landmarks still owns the theater today. They also own the Lyric Theatre. This old vaudeville theater from 1914 is across the street. It reopened in 2016 after a big restoration. The Alabama Theatre hosts about 250 events each year. Over 400,000 people visit for shows. These include Broadway-style plays, ballet, opera, concerts, and films.
The Mighty Organ
When the Alabama Theatre was built in 1927, movies were silent. They needed music to go along with them. This music often came from an orchestra or a special theater pipe organ. The organ at the Alabama is a very rare "Crawford Special-Publix One Mighty Wurlitzer".
Only 17 of this model were ever built. The Alabama's organ is nicknamed "Big Bertha." It is one of only three still in its original theater. The Alabama's organ has four keyboards. It started with 20 "ranks" (sets of pipes). Now it has been expanded to 32 ranks. It also has many percussion instruments and sound effects. These were used to create sounds for silent films.
See Also
- Lyric Theater (Birmingham, Alabama)
