Alabama Theatre

Alabama Theatre
Map
Address1817 Third Avenue North
Birmingham, Alabama
United States
OwnerBirmingham Landmarks, Inc.
Typemovie palace
Capacity2,176
Current usePerforming arts center
OpenedDecember 26, 1927 (1927-12-26)
Website
alabamatheatre.com
Alabama Theatre
Coordinates33°30′53.69″N 86°48′33.04″W / 33.5149139°N 86.8091778°W / 33.5149139; -86.8091778
Area0.4 acres (0.16 ha)
ArchitectGraven & Mayger
Architectural styleMission/spanish Revival
NRHP reference No.79000386[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 13, 1979
Designated ARLHFebruary 15, 1977[2]

The Alabama Theatre is a movie palace in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built in 1927 by Paramount's Publix Theatres chain as its flagship theater for the southeastern region of the United States.[3] Seating 2,500 people at the time, it was the largest in the Birmingham theater district. The district was once home to many large theaters and movie palaces that featured vaudeville, performing arts, nickelodeons and Hollywood films. Built to show silent films, the Alabama still features its original Wurlitzer theater organ. The Alabama Theatre and Lyric Theatre are the district's only remaining theaters, and as of 2024, both are in operation.[3]

The Alabama and its historic organ were added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on February 15, 1977 and to the National Register of Historic Places on November 13, 1979.[1][2] The theater has been surveyed by the Historic American Buildings Survey on several occasions, most recently in 1996.[3] It was designated as the state's historic theater in 1993.[4]

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage". Alabama Historical Commission. www.preserveala.org. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "Alabama Theatre, 1811 Third Avenue North, Birmingham, Jefferson, AL". Historic American Buildings Survey. Library of Congress.
  4. ^ "Alabama Historic Theatre", Alabama Official Emblems, Symbols, and Honors, Alabama Department of Archives and History, February 6, 2014, archived from the original on 2008-04-15, retrieved 2019-05-08