Colonial Theater
514 N. Main Street,
Tarboro,
NC
27886
514 N. Main Street,
Tarboro,
NC
27886
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ctwrenn: I posted three of the four photos posted here of the Colonial. I used my Android phone to take the pictures (the photos showing the facade without white paint). The morning photo was taken March 12,2012; the two evening shots (showing the neon lit up) were taken April 9, 2012. WSasser posted the photo of the Colonial with the white facade; it appears to have been taken in the mid-1980s after closing but before it became a church.
here is another link to another pic don’t know if it is any more recent then the above or others but anyway though i would contribute http://www.flickr.com/photos/64900616@N04/6327864106/in/photostream/
While I was working at the Taylor Mr. Earnhardt offered me a management job at a Tarboro theater but my salary bid of $100 per week killed the offer—I did not feel disappointed since I was going to college for a different goal.
Well, Neal answers the question that I posed on the Tar Theater page on CT. However, I was never clear on the business connection between W.J.P.Earnhardt and Boykin. It seems that the Taylor may have booked films through Stewart-Everett and the SE bankruptcy ended that relationship—creating the need to form a new booking arrangement.
Good afternoon it;s nealb1992 again just letting you know that we just had our star light ball in efforts to rais funds to restor the old colonial theater it went very well. we have also made right at $49,000.00 off the marquee. what the marquee does if you donate $500.00 or more you get your name put on the marquee for two weeks the marquee has helped us out alot. we also just recieved a $8,000.00 donation of sound equiptment the whole nine yards, by the colonial theaters previous owner mr. marion boykin of wilson n.c so if anyone would like to help out by donating just let me know i will keep check on this page .
If the address is changed to 514 North Main St., it will map properly and show a head on view of the Colonial Theatre.
Nealb1992 is correct about the closing date of the Colonial. It was replaced by the Parkhill Cinema 3 located at Parkhill Mall (now Riverside Plaza) in 1982. Progress is slowly but surely being made on the restoration of the Colonial Theatre. It now looks better than it did when it was a storefront church.
dear lost memory,
hi my name is neal my grand father owns the colonial at 514 north main street. You make it sound like we are not going to repair the south wall of the colonial theater before the mural is painted… The south wall has been repaired the wall has been tuck pointed new grout has been replaced between every brick and then the wall was painted all one color.. and now the mural has been finished thanks to michael brown of chaple hill … the mural costed $35,000.00 and is expected to last 25, years…. and no this was not part of the restoration of the colonial. it was just something that we wanted to do to honor or veterans… you should come to tarbor n.c and i will give you the tour of the colonial and the tour is welcome to any one who will come to tarboro to see the colonial….
sincearly , NEAL
Hi Chuck1231 Sorry for the attitude thios morning i just read these comments about the colonial and it just gets on my nervs when people get the history of the colonial all wrong so i do apologize for the attitude this morning but to my knowledge the colonial was built in 1919 and finally opened as a oprah house in 1920 then in 1927 it changed over in to a still movie theater in 1940’s the colonial became the first motion theater in the twin countys.
Hi Chuck IM Neal my grand father is the current owner of the old colonial therater At 514 North Main street in Tarboro N.C …. Ther colonial therater DID NOT CLOSE ASW A MOVIE THEATER UNTIL the spring of 1982…not 1975 The colonial therater was opperated by my uncles farther Marion Boykin of Wilson N.C….. NOT HOWELL THEATRES. It sounds to me that you may need to do some more research on the collonial theater so you can get your facts right befor you go posting them on a website and have no clue what your talking about .
sincearly Neal
2008 photo of the Colonial
Another photo can be seen here.
The Colonial Theater looks much better in the photos on this site.
Maybe they consider the mural as “restoring”. Look at the 2007 photo. I hope the mural hides everything.
That paper has several articles about the theater in its recent archives, but I didn’t read them all.
Great idea. Hide the building behind a mural. What happened to the restoration?
Here is a 9/17/08 article about a mural that is being painted on the theater:
http://tinyurl.com/3m4ttz
It’s great that you something is being done to save this little theatre. We’ve lost too many already of varying sizes.
Does anybody know if it ever had an organ? From the time it would likely have had at least a piano or a photoplayer or pit organ.
Here is a recent photo of the Colonial Theater.
The Colonial Theater is being restored. This is an August 22, 2006 article about the restoration. In case the link expires, this is the text:
“Restoration continues at theatre
The Daily Southerner
By W. TERRY SMITH
Editor
he restoration of the Colonial Theatre is going to take awhile.
“We’re still doing de-construction,†Joe Bourne reported Monday to the theatre advisory committee.
Bourne bought the 87-year-old building downtown on Main Street last summer and donated it to the Edgecombe County Veterans Museum. The museum board appointed him in charge of the building’s renovation.
Next month, Bourne said he would ask the Tarboro Town Council to close an alley behind the theatre, which will allow five extra feet at the rear of the building.
“We need all the room we can get because we need to build dressing rooms and bathrooms,†Bourne said.
Meanwhile, Bourne said he had applied for two grants. One is for $100,000 from the Golden LEAF Foundation; the other is for $25,000 from the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center.
Bourne suggested people go by the front of the theater and notice the door volunteer James Earl Gatling had refurnished and the work on the sign by Edgecombe Electric Service.
Bourne reported architect Richard Andrews, who lives in Tarboro and has an office in Rocky Mount, has committed to do the architectural and engineering work.
“But first we’ve still got to get the curtains off the walls, remove the false ceiling … just a lot of de-construction that needs to be done.â€
The roof has been replaced and the stage and seats inside the theatre have been removed.
Bourne has been talking with artist Susan Fecho of Tarboro about having a military-themed mural built on the theatre’s outside south wall.
Fecho, a Barton College art professor, said she would have to investigate the cost of obtaining liability insurance for artists working on scaffolding.
Fecho also wants to look into grassroots grants to pay for paint and other materials.
Bourne suggested selling engraved bricks for a walkway next to the wall to help pay for the mural that will represent each branch of the armed forces.
The committee also reviewed various uses for the completed theatre, from bingo to old movies to one-act plays to art exhibits in an expanded lobby.
Gordon Campbell and Laura Fuller are to investigate what problems other towns the size of Tarboro encountered with similar theatre projects.
ghamilton….I’m in the yellow pages now. Ckick this link and look for me on the list.
Weldon? I’m lucky that I found a theater for North Carolina. Theaters in that state aren’t easy to find. Okay, I’m going to try and put my e-mail address in the contact info. Last time I tried doing that it didn’t work.
Still no Weldon,but that’s okay.I believe you have access to the deepest dungeons of this website.Find my super-secret E-mail address and send me a mailing address for your person.I procured something for you that you’d really appreciate,theater-wise.The part of NC that includes the above theater is not well economy-wise,so theater saving isn’t a huge priority normally.