Cabarrus Theatre

There was also a Downtown Concord moviehouse called THE CINEMA too that was about a block up the street from the Cabarrus.

“STROKE OF FORTUNE” left the “R” out,guys.

Theatre opened 19 June 1939 and the architect was Erle G Stillwell.

Does anyone have a recent theatre news out of Concord NC?

PS: Yes, that totally contradicts what is posted in the description of the theatre. My goof on the first. The addresses for Union Street hip hop’d a lot over the years.

Lacceee: I believe when the bank bought the former Cabarrus theatre the bank used it for storage so probably removed the seats and I’m sure your grandmother is a wonderful theatre source so do continue to ask her questions.

Just thought I’d post and let everyone know I have first hand knowledge of the Cabarrus Theater having spent many hours there as a child. My grandfather, WM Morgan owned the Cabarrus Theater until the 70’s I think so I know it intimately. Spent many hours as a kid running up and down the steps and can remember getting into trouble lots of Saturdays for dropping popcorn from the Balcony. My grandfather passed away in 1993 but my grandmother and aunt are still alive. My aunt was the manager and run the concession area of the theater. As far as I can remember when it was closed they moved some of the furniture from upstairs out and its still at my grandmothers house stored upstairs. The projectors were also disassembled and sold after my grandfather passed away to a collector. But the seats and everything else remained when it was sold. I’ll question my grandmother and see if she can remember anything else. My grandfather owned many drive ins in that same time period such as Mt. Mourne Drive In Mooresville Nc, Albemarle Drive IN Albemarle, NC and Locust Drive In Locust NC. I can remember on Monday mornings riding in the car with my aunt and grandmother to replace the placards that were put up the week before with new advertisments in all the gas stations and stores for all the drive ins. Jeez how me and my cousins use to HATE Mondays because we were in the car for hours and hours with my aunt getting in and out to put up a new placard. Well I’ve took up enough space for now. If anybody has a specific question I’ll see if I can find out.

Jim: Fine cinema treasures!

Charles, you are correct.

Patsy it would be very hard to get in there. Like I said several posts up I was very lucky to get in there before 9/11.

BTW, am I missing something in your post? All I am seeing are quotes that I wrote several days ago.

“You can still tell where the box office used to sit and the receptionist desk is the concession stand but modified. The brilliant Art Deco curvatures in the ceiling exist as does the domed lobby and brass railings. To the right of the desk is a comissioned letter by, I believe Paramount Studios, that contains well over 50 autographs of then famous stars and directors. That is really all you can see from the lobby because you need security clearance to get to the back.” The interior sounds really unique and special, but if security clearance is needed to get to the back I may never see it! How did you get inside before it became a pass key bank?

You can still tell where the box office used to sit and the current receptionist desk is the concession stand but modified. The brilliant Art Deco curvatures in the ceiling exist as does the domed lobby and brass railings. To the right of the desk is a comissioned letter by, I believe Paramount Studios, that contains well over 50 autographs of then famous stars and directors.

That is really all you can see from the lobby because you need security clearance to get to the back.

Thanks guys! Thomas: How does one go about seeing the framed signatures if the bank is a pass key only building? I take it the seats, screen are gone, but what in the world do they use that huge auditorium area for? When we drove around to the back we could see the immense size of the building! Now that you have explained further we’ll return to check out the former theatre scene in Concord. We have a dear friend who lives on S. Union and so I plan to ask him if he and his late wife ever went to a movie in these theatres.

Thomas: I just spent some time in Concord and stopped to check out the now First Charter Bank/former Carrabus Theatre on Union. I see it sits between a Baptist Church and the Hotel Concord. We drove around to the back/side of the building and could see that it was a theatre due to its size and general structural design. It wasn’t quite 5:00 so I tried the front doors, but they were locked. I couldn’t see the framed piece (commissioned Paramount letter) with signatures so that must be within the second set of doors. Also wanted to find the other former Concord theatre, but didn’t print those comments for reference! Since we didn’t know where the police department was located we didn’t find the other theatre location. Does this location have regular business hours for anyone to enter the lobby and look around. I’d love to know if the theatre (seats, etc.) are still in the auditorium area or is it being used as some sort of storage as sometimes happens?