Center Theatre
215 1st Avenue NW,
Hickory,
NC
28601
215 1st Avenue NW,
Hickory,
NC
28601
1 person
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Opened March 23rd, 1942.
Circa 1980 and 1956 photos added courtesy Tom Bollinger. Showed Adults Only films circa 1980. Severn Allen was manager in 1956, per his late son Ken Allen: “He started the Saturday morning kiddie shows in conjunction with the Downtown Merchants Association — essentially low-cost babysitting while the parents shopped. My father was the one who turned Elvis (and Colonel Tom Parker) down. They were working their way to New York where Elvis was scheduled to go on the Ed Sullivan Show. My father had never heard of Elvis, had the theater booked with pictures that week and sent them on their way. When he told the Paramount folks about it on his daily call, they nearly fainted. One of dad’s favorite stories.”
The Embassy Theatre opened in 1949. Mr. Henry H. Brown was listed as the Manager of this 450 seat Theatre. This theatre was for people of color. It featured first rate movies, big bands and dancing girls on Saturday nights. The last listing we could find for the Embassy Theatre was in 1958. On a street view map of today the address comes up an empty open field.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/42745
I don’t see a listing for the Embassy here.
The architect was Erle Stillwell.