Capitol Theatre

Fred Armour erected a 375-seat theater with a bowling alley in the basement, apartments on the second floor, and a receiving station for Lahave Creameries in 1922, but was unfortunately destroyed by a fire in the early-1930’s. During the blaze, a wall fell on firefighter Harold Ray, who died from his injuries around a year later.

Built on the same site is the Capitol Theatre, featuring a larger capacity of 800 seats, which opened its doors on November 5, 1936 with Ginger Rogers in “In-Person” (unknown if extras added). Bert Evans who previously managed the earlier theatere also managed the Capitol Theatre as well. The building was also home to the town hall and a jail in the basement. The front part of the building was home to various retail outlets over the years. The Capitol Theatre was independently operated throughout its entire history, despite being twinned in the early-1980s and downgrading the capacity to 500 seats (with 250 seats each inside both auditoriums).

The Capitol Theatre closed for the final time in 1999, and the building was converted into a pub named after the former movie theatre called the Capitol Pub in 2000. The theatre sign and marquee that was used during its final years is retained. Inside features a 35mm projector that was similar to the one used at the Capitol Theatre, as well as a large photo of famous faces of Hollywood on the stage wall, and several movie posters on the main restaurant wall.

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