Capitol Theatre to Reopen as Performing Arts Center

By Rachel Benavidez / Staff Writer
UTB/TSC The Collegian - 10/08/99

On Valentine’s Day 1928, the Capitol Theater opened its doors as the premiere movie house in Brownsville.  For nearly 30 years, the young and old alike flocked to the Capitol to watch movies such as “Gone With the Wind,” “Casablanca” and John Wayne Westerns.

In the mid-1950s, the opening of newer, bigger theaters in Brownsville and the growing popularity of television took its toll on the theater’s patronage.  It closed its doors in the mid-’60s to be reopened as a retail-clothing store and most recently as a ropa usada.

Today the theater’s once grand staircase, leading up to the nearly 400 balcony seats, is gone--as are the rest of the theater’s fixtures.  Its only occupants are bats and other unsavory creatures.  But that’s all about to change.

 On Aug. 16, the Brownsville City Commission thanked the Holand and Galonsky families for donating the building and the adjoining edifice to the city last December, in hopes that it would be restored to its former glory.

Representatives from the Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts were present to ask the Commission to use the building, located at 1101 E. Levee, as a performing arts center. Plans for the adjoining building are to use it as an educational facility dedicated to the arts, officials said.  Using it in this capacity will provide the possibility for federal funding in the distant future.

Renovations have begun in preparation for the first event that will be held at the Capitol, a preview reception on Nov. 26 that will feature a grand lighting of the neon sign that still adorns the building. Renovations will not be completed at that time, but the society hopes to use the partly completed building to raise funds for completion of the project and later as the site for performances, said George Ramirez, events manager for the society.

Downtown District Manager Peter Goodman is overseeing the renovation and says of the opportunity, “It’s my little dream.”  He has seen many historic buildings restored and says that renovating a theater is the ideal project.

Goodman predicts that the opening of the theater will “spark interest in that area of the city … and bring more people downtown.”

“A theater is something everyone relates to,” he said, “People have stopped me in the street who used to go there and can’t wait to see it restored … so they can take their grandkids.”

Finding pictures of the Capitol in its original state has proven to be a difficult task for project members.  The original architect, Henry J. Phelps of San Antonio, died in 1944.  A search for his original drawings and blueprints led Goodman to Phelps’ nephew, who discarded the artifacts only last year, a heartbreaking setback for the planners.  Pictures or articles about the theater in the 1920s and ’30s are being solicited in hopes of keeping the restoration as true to the original plans as possible.

 The city has allotted $7,200 to be used toward restoring the Capitol Theater sign, City Commissioner John Wood told The Collegian. However, it will not provide further monetary support at this time, Wood said. “The city is contributing time,” Wood said, referring to city workers who are gutting what’s left of the inside of the theater. Completely restoring the building will depend on fund-raising efforts and private donations, he and other officials said.

“The Brownsville Society for Performing Arts has taken on the responsibility of raising the funds necessary for the restoration,” Wood said.  “…They are spearheading the effort.”

The city also will try to find grants to help finance the restoration.

The first fund-raiser will be held Nov. 27 by the Society of Performing Arts in which the Capitol will be transformed into the Copacabana, the legendary New York nightclub, for the group’s annual Latin Jazz Fest. “A Night at the Copa” will feature local and international talent.  The entertainment will spill into Levee Street, between 11th and 12th streets. Event planners plan to cordon off the street, pending city approval.

Ramirez speaks enthusiastically about the Capitol project.

“The real objective,” he said, “ is to have a performing arts theater. You can have a theater community in Brownsville, and a real music hall.  I think we need one.” Ramirez said community involvement is key to successfully restoring the Capitol and keeping it going once it is opened.

“This is going to have to be a full community effort,” he said, adding that a performing arts theater will serve the entire community.  The building, serving in this capacity, will be available to local churches, schools and other organizations, including UTB/TSC.

City officials see the restoration of the Capitol as one of the first steps toward revitalizing the downtown area. “The city commission started it off,” Goodman said, “ … but this is not worthwhile without community support and involvement. …This will provide a real shot in the arm to the downtown area.”