Brewton Theater
Brewton,
AL
No one has favorited this theater yet
Opened as the Ritz Theater in 1936, it was closed in 1987. This is one of the oddest preservation jobs in the country, the town of Brewton decided they couldn’t afford to save the theatre and it was demolished in 1996. They preserved just the marquee and facade, which is now a community announcement kiosk!
Uh-huh…
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Here is a recent photo.
In a Alabama History archive it lists a Ritz Theatre in Brewton as being at 2 South St. at the corner of St. Nicholas Ave. When I used Bing, the visitors information center comes up at this address. The building at the opposite corner looks much like the corner building in the American Classics photo. So I would think that the address of 2 South Blvd., Brewton, Al. 36426 would probably be correct.
It didn’t mention anything about a Brewton Theatre, just the Ritz. I think they may have put Brewton on the verticle for the town and it being the Visitor Information Center for the city of Brewton.
This site gives the location as Hwy 31 at 29 which Google maps to some highway in the middle of nowhere. Maybe you should contact the “Information Kiosk” and see if it has any information about its location.
LM, South Blvd. is also Hwy 31/29 and if you map it to St. Nicholas that is where the visitors center is.
2 South Boulevard is the address given for the Brewton Message Service. I assume that’s the kiosk.
I made the photo at the link posted by Lost Memory. My Flickr stats page has a link back to your site here. The photo was made yesterday (8-25-09). I first saw this welcome sign about 10 years ago and never knew this was originally the entrance to an actual theater. I will update my photo description with the correct info.
Chuck1231 has given the correct street names. This structure is at the intersection of South Blvd. (U.S. Hwys. 31 and 29) and St. Nichols Ave. (State Hwy 41). My photo is geotagged. If you click on the map link you will find the correct location and street names and numbers. Click the hybrid feature on the map and you can see the structure.
Ken Roe can you update the address for the Ritz, 2 South Blvd.
I called the visitor center yesterday and talked to Marjorie. She said that the theatre was never known as the Brewton, that it was always the Ritz but when they did the building for the message service they changed the verticle to reflect the city of Brewton.
The address of the theatre is the same as the message service building – 2 South Blvd.
Here is what this sign looks like at night when all of the lights are on. I made this photo earlier this evening (11-20-09). The lighted toy soldiers in front are Christmas decorations.
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