The Carolina Theatre in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, is a historic movie house currently undergoing restoration to become a performing arts center and civic convening space. The theatre is owned by the nonprofit Foundation For The Carolinas.

History

The Carolina Theatre opened in 1927, as part of Paramount Picture's Publix Theatre chain. The opening feature was the silent movie, ''

A Kiss in a Taxi ''A Kiss In A Taxi'' is a lost 1927 American silent comedy film starring Bebe Daniels and directed by Clarence Badger. It is based on a French play, ''A Kiss in a Taxi'', produced on Broadway in 1925. Famous Players-Lasky produced and Paramount P ...

''. Originally, movies ran for three days, and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performers were on stage Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. In 1938, the theatre was renovated to accommodate sound films, with the original murals replaced with acoustic tiles. On Feb. 10, 1956, the theatre played host to a performance by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

. ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

'' would premiere at the Carolina Theatre on March 31, 1965, and run a record 79 weeks. The 398,201 people who saw the movie were more than the population of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, at the time. With rising competition from suburban multiplexes, the theatre closed on Nov. 27, 1978, with a showing of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

’s ''Fists of Fury''. Arson furthered damaged the theatre in the 1980s.

Renovation

After many unsuccessful attempts to renovate and revive the theatre, the City of Charlotte acquired the building in 1986 and sold it to Foundation For The Carolinas in April 2013. The renovation will restore historical touches, such as the murals and original marquee, to replicate the original 1927 atmosphere as much as possible. Most of the $51.5 million of the budget was raised from private sources. Construction on the restoration began in 2017. The theatre will be part of a larger Civic Campus called Belk Place. When completed, programming will focus on civic discussions, speakers, community gatherings, films, concerts and more. After many delays, foundation executive vice president Laura Smith said that after many delays the theater would reopen in Spring 2023.

InterContinental Hotel

In March 2017, it was announced that, as part of the theatre's restoration, a 257-room InterContinental hotel would be built atop the structure. The developer is Salter Brothers of

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

formerly SB&G Hotel Group and Valor Hospitality Partners will operate the hotel once it's open. The project is estimated to cost $100. The project broke ground and the tower crane was installed in October 2019. The first 5 stories would be used by the theater with the remaining 27 stories to be used as a hotel over of space. The hotel project was put on hold in November 2020, when the developers lost their financing, due to the economic impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Hotel demand dropped by 40% due to the

since the hotel relies heavily upon business travel. On August 25, 2022, Foundation For the Carolinas CEO Michael Marsicano said that after many delays, construction would resume soon.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carolina Theatre Theatres in Charlotte, North Carolina Theatres completed in 1927 1927 establishments in North Carolina InterContinental hotels