Zebulon Theatre
206 North Broad Street,
Cairo,
GA
31728
206 North Broad Street,
Cairo,
GA
31728
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The Zebulon Theatre was opened on April 15, 1936 as a 650-seat theater by Ms. Ethel Blanton who named it after her husband Zebulon Blanton.
In 1950 the Blanton Family sold the theater to The Dunn Family Theatre’s Inc. and was operated under that family business until 1973 when Mr. Larry Bearden purchased it and ran it successfully until he retired in 2000.
The Community Foundation of South West Georgia purchased the theater on December 15, 2000 and it is now operated by the Regional Community Center, a non profit organization.
The Zebulon Theatre is still a single screen Adams-style building with a seating capacity of 350 — including the balcony.
The building has seen very little change since it was built in 1936 with the only changes occurring in the snack bar, the addition of a new marquee, a new popcorn machine (that is still in use today), new Simplex XL
projectors (that are also still in use), and a new ticket office that was added in 1950. New seats and wall coverings were also added in 1990.
The Zebulon Theatre now plays sub-run movies and is a family friendly theater that only plays movies with a rating from G to PG-13.
According to the theater, “Just about ever person that was born in Grady County can tell you some kind of story of when they were kids and coming to the Zebulon to see a movie, or how they courted their now-husband or wife at a Saturday afternoon movie. People even have fond memories or working at the snack bar, taking up tickets for running the Simplex XL projectors in the projection booth.”
They also add “The Zebulon Theatre is a jewel in Grady County that we are proud to still have, when so many of the old movie theaters have been torn down in the name of progress.
Contributed by
Shelton Singletary
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
If anyone wants to see some pictures of the Zebulon go to www.zebulontheater.com and click on zebulon
We just finished a 100,000.00 remodel on the inside of the theatre. We now have new handicap bathrooms, new stair case to the balcony, new seats with cup holders, and have fixed all of the code issues you have with and old building. We are not done yet still need about 200.000.00 more to finish with the building
Lost Memory next time you are by the Zebulon please come in. I am the projectionest so I am there 99% of the time would be really nice to meet you and give you a tour of the theatre. That goes for anyone else who finds them self in Cairo and would like to see the theatre. I like to talk about the old girl and show her off.
Thanks for the offer. The next time that I’m in the neighborhood, I’ll take the tour. Good luck with the theater.
This is a 2009 photo.
Looks like your link provided on your 10/14/08 post is no longer valid….
This was originally the Bearden Theatre. Here is a 1986 photo of the Bearden Theatre.
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Here is a recent night photo.
Another 2009 photo is here.
2010 photo of the Zebulon Theatre.
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