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Address | 1817 Third Avenue North Birmingham, Alabama United States |
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Owner | Birmingham Landmarks, Inc. |
Type | movie palace |
Capacity | 2,176 |
Current use | Performing arts center |
Opened | December 26, 1927 |
Website | |
alabamatheatre | |
Alabama Theatre | |
Coordinates | 33°30′53.69″N 86°48′33.04″W / 33.5149139°N 86.8091778°W |
Area | 0.4 acres (0.16 ha) |
Architect | Graven & Mayger |
Architectural style | Mission/spanish Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 79000386[1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 13, 1979 |
Designated ARLH | February 15, 1977[2] |
The Alabama Theatre is a movie palace in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built in 1927 by Paramount's Publix Theatres chain as its flagship theater for the southeastern region of the United States.[3] Seating 2,500 people at the time, it was the largest in the Birmingham theater district. The district was once home to many large theaters and movie palaces that featured vaudeville, performing arts, nickelodeons and Hollywood films. Built to show silent films, the Alabama still features its original Wurlitzer theater organ. The Alabama Theatre and Lyric Theatre are the district's only remaining theaters, and as of 2024, both are in operation.[3]
The Alabama and its historic organ were added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on February 15, 1977 and to the National Register of Historic Places on November 13, 1979.[1][2] The theater has been surveyed by the Historic American Buildings Survey on several occasions, most recently in 1996.[3] It was designated as the state's historic theater in 1993.[4]