Hill Event Center

Hills Art Center is an arts center and banquet hall for the Alabama Theatre, located next door to it on 3rd Avenue North. It is named for Ora Lee and Ernie Hill. The center's director is Holly Morgan.

Birmingham Landmarks, owners of the Alabama, purchased the former Goldstein's Furs building in 1992. Ironically, the building stands on space Paramount had originally intended to use as part of the Alabama before construction, but the existing building's owners had refused to sell. After Birmingham Landmark's purchase, a passage between the two buildings was constructed backstage at the Alabama and the second story of the building, previously Goldstein's cold storage area, was converted for use as a rehearsal hall.

Renovations to turn the space into an arts center around 2008 cost approximately $800,000. According to Cecil Whitmire, Opera Birmingham patrons Ora Lee and Ernie Hill had "wanted a space … to memorialize their interest in the arts." As a result, the Hill estate paid about half the cost of renovating the space. Center directory Holly Morgan, who has a degree in interior design, oversaw decoration.

The Arts Center features two lobbies, downstairs and upstairs, a catering kitchen, and a 3,000-square-foot ballroom. It also houses several local artifacts that have come into Birmingham Landmarks possession, including five chandeliers from the original Tutwiler Hotel and a gold-leafed directory from the Lyric Theatre's office space.

References

• Hollis, Tim. (June 25, 2006). "Showplaces of the South, Part 1". Accessed June 25, 2008.
• Seale, Kathy. (June 24, 2008). "The arts of the Alabama." The Birmingham News.

Preceded by: Goldstein's Furs

181_ 3rd Avenue North 2008–present

Succeeded by: (current)