Capitol Theatre
1911 2nd Avenue N,
Birmingham,
AL
35203
1911 2nd Avenue N,
Birmingham,
AL
35203
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In 1946, I used to catch the #1 Bessemer street car and go to the movie in Birmngham. The three theaters I went to were The Capital,The Galaxy, and The Strand, three theaters in a row on Second Avenue. These theaters would show shorts of Laurel and Hardy, my favorite at the time. I left Birmingham in 1954 and do not know the outcome of these three theaters.
Here is a photo of the Capitol Theatre dated 1939.
The web site Birmingham Rewound says that the Capitol had earlier been called the Alcazar Theatre, and for the last few years of its operation (from 1948 until some time the early 1950s) was called the Newmar Theatre, a name that was moved next door to the Strand Theatre when the Newmar closed.
Here is a photo of the theater as the Alcazar, dated 1920.
The Strand was demolished to make way for a parking garage in 1963, and presumably the Alcazar/Capitol/Newmar came down at the same time, if it had not already been razed.
During its last few years as the Newmar, this small theater sported a splendid Streamlined Modern front with a rounded marquee. A photo of it is on the Birmingham Rewound page.
I’ve found text references indicating that the Alcazar was in operation in 1918, but it was probably several years old by that time. Its architectural style and narrow frontage mark it as being from the first wave of movie theater construction, so it probably predated the larger Strand next door by at least a year or more.