Colonial Theater

The building still stands and is occupied by the Liberty News Stand. Looks nothing like it did in the photo that LM posted. The front has had a make over since the pic was taken.

I think the Colonial was torn down in an orgy of urban renewal in the late 1960s and early 1970s in which whole blocks downtown disappeared to become a bus depot (across the street) and many parking decks and lots. It’s even worse now. I think that whole vibrant block in the pic posted by Lost Memory is gone now. The Colonial was definitely on the east side of Liberty Street (on the same side as the State). Also, I’m sure the Colonial was open later than 1955, at least till the mid-to-late 1960s. (If I ever find out, I will update this.)

When my father was a young man, before he was drafted for WWII, during the day he worked near the courthouse on Liberty Street. He also had evening jobs ushering at some of the downtown theaters. One was the Colonial, I think, and others were the Carolina and the Forsyth. It must have been for the extra money and for the air conditioning.

Strangely, I never saw a movie at the Colonial nor do I remember any friends going there. It just never came up. I don’t remember the Colonial having a first run of any grade A film. As I recall, the Colonial showed second runs, double features of B films and low budget or risque fare. I find it odd that in a town that size with only two dominant theaters, the Carolina and the Winston, there couldn’t have been some niche for the Colonial. I got the sense from my father that in its heyday it was a nice theater.