Carver Theatre
The Carver Theatre, now formally known as the Carver Performing Arts Center, is 470-seat Art Deco-style theater located at 1631 4th Avenue North, on the northeast corner of Block 63, southwest of the intersection of 4th Avenue and 17th Street North in the Historic Black business district in Birmingham's Fountain Heights neighborhood. It is presently owned by the City of Birmingham operated as a non-profit multipurpose community theater and live-performance venue. The theater building also houses the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and the Birmingham Black Radio Museum.
In its days as a movie theater was one of a handful of cinemas where Black filmgoers could see first-run movies while Birmingham's segregation laws restricted their patronage of other movie-houses in town. It was operated, along with the Famous Theater, Frolic Theater, 8th Avenue Theater, and Champion Theater by the Jefferson Amusement Co. P. A. Engler was general manager for the company.
The Carver, named after educator George Washington Carver, was initially a much smaller venue, constructed in 1935 with other businesses operating in the remainder of the 100-foot by 140-foot corner lot owned by M. and R. Fies. In September 1945 the operator revealed plans to rebuild the venue as a fully air-conditioned, 1,300-seat first-run cinema. Architect Charles McCauley prepared the plans for the $160,000 project.
As with most downtown theaters, the Carver's fortunes declined. In later years, the theater showed pornographic movies, and the facility closed in the early 1980s. The vacant theater building was listed as a contributing structure in the Fourth Avenue Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The City of Birmingham, seeking to improve the area where many events of the Civil Rights Movement took place, purchased the Carver in 1990 and remodeled it for live-performance use, with an eye toward remembering the Carver's place in the African-American community. The renovated auditorium had a capacity of 520. Since reopening, the Carver hosted performances by Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, the Tom Joyner syndicated radio show, and many others. A $240,000 project to enlarge the stage by closing the orchestra pit was planned in 2007 and completed, along with other repairs, in 2011. That work slightly reduced the number of seats to 508.
On the morning of January 7, 2016 someone crashed through the theater's entrance doors with a Chevrolet Tahoe. Later that year, the Birmingham City Council approved $4.3 million on city funding for repairs and renovation of the facility.
In January 2018 the City Council approved a $164,000 contract for Montgomery Environmental Inc. to remove asbestos-containing materials from the historic building. The main renovation work by Stone Building Company began in 2019. Upgrades included restoring the auditorium and outdoor marquee to their late 1940s appearance, and updating technical equipment for cinema screenings, concerts, stage productions and conference use. The front of the stage was brought forward to improve sightlines and expand backstage areas. Architect Creig Hoskins of Studio 2H Design oversaw that work.
The Jazz Hall of Fame worked with Studio 2H and Method-1 to accommodate new exhibits, which were largely moved to the second floor to provide space for events on the ground floor. The lower level was remodeled for use by WAJH-FM ("Alabama Jazz Hall Radio") and the Birmingham Black Radio Museum. A grand re-opening of the Hall of Fame was held on August 6, 2024.
References
- "Theater for Negroes To Be Built Here Soon." (September 11, 1945) Birmingham Post, p. 9
- Edgemon, Erin (February 9, 2017) "Carver Theatre, a Birmingham cultural icon, may finally be restored." The Birmingham News
- Sznajderman, Michael (July 27, 2021) "Birmingham’s Carver Theatre: 'We're happy to say it's back'." Alabama NewsCenter
- Watson, Nathan (May 28, 2024) "Sneak peek + 5 things to know about the newly renovated Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame." Bham Now