Celebrate the Alabama Theatre’s 90th birthday, lighting of the new ALABAMA sign and the new year

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Birmingham Alabama
Rendering of the two Alabama Theatre Signs with the Lyric Theatre

Happy 90th Birthday Alabama Theatre!

On December 31st, the Alabama Theatre will be holding a New Year’s Eve 90th Birthday Bash featuring Sister Hazel & Taylor Hicks.  At 11:30, after the concert has concluded, concertgoers will be participate in history when they will be asked to go outside the theater and ring in 2018 with the lighting of the new ALABAMA 18th Street Sign for the very first time.

The return of the 18th Street Alabama Sign was a genuine community effort.

Birmingham Alabama
Photo by the Alabama Theatre

This past Fall, after being nominated by REV Birmingham, the Alabama Theatre  was named a top 25 finalist in the national Partners in Preservation Main Street campaign.  After a month long contest, the Alabama Theatre received more than 54,000 votes earning it a place in the top ten, resulting in a $120,000 grant from the National Trust.

Several local individuals, civic organizations and businesses raised and donated funds to replace the original sign that has been missing since 1957. These individual and  organizations included:

Junior Board of Birmingham Landmarks

Gold sponsors: Alabama Power and Regions Bank

Silver sponsors Altec, Bradley Arant, CAWACO, Gray Construction, Cindy and Ken Rhoden, ServisFirst Bank, Southpace, Wells Fargo and Wiggins Child Pantazis 

Birmingham Alabama
Alabama Theatre sign on 18th before 1957 – photo by Bham Now

A Birmingham treasure, the Alabama Theatre opened on December 26, 1927 as a silent movie palace. Originally intended to show Paramount films, the Alabama now hosts a wide range of events including concerts, graduations, dance recitals and seasonal movie series- including the wildly popular annual PNC Holiday Film Series. This past year, 2017, has been one of the theaters  most successful in memory with the grand theatre hosting over 100 events by year’s end- including 20 national touring acts.

Brant Beane, the Executive Director of Birmingham Landmarks summed it up best in a recent Alabama Theatre news release.

“The Alabama Theatre has survived 90 years because of dedicated customers and generous gifts from our local corporate and philanthropic community. They sponsor our shows, restore our theatres, buy tickets to events, make donations and, in this most recent example, voted for us every day during the grant campaign contest. We wouldn’t be here celebrating 90 years without this community-wide support!”

Celebrate the Alabama Theatre’s 9oth Birthday on New Year’s Eve with Taylor Hicks and Sister Hazel – and help “light the way” for next 90 years with their new 18th Street ALABAMA sign.

For ticket information visit – AlabamaTheatre.com

 

Pat Byington
Pat Byington

Longtime conservationist. Former Executive Director at the Alabama Environmental Council and Wild South. Publisher of the Bama Environmental News for more than 18 years. Career highlights include playing an active role in the creation of Alabama's Forever Wild program, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Dugger Mountain Wilderness, preservation of special places throughout the East through the Wilderness Society and the strengthening (making more stringent) the state of Alabama's cancer risk and mercury standards.

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