The one thing I hated so much about the Studio 1 and 2 that opened up at The Electric Company Mall was the seats were so uncomfortable. It was like sitting on concrete slabs.
I recall before it closed that it showed porn and rocky Horror. The Studio I and II was awful just liked the person described. The auditoriums were claustrophobic and the seats felt like I was sitting on concrete slabs.
This webpage has such a fond review of a theatre that was just pure CRAP!!! Every movie I saw there ALWAYS had the projector malfunction and the service was pitiful-GOOD RIDDANCE!!!
God, I remember standing in line for “Return of the Jedi” on opening weekend standing in a line that went all the way up to Avent Ferry Rd. and toward Western Blvd. I will never forget the long line I was in for “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” and hearing the crowd inside booing when the power went out from the thunder storm while I was outside waiting to get in.
I always liked the soft music they would play while showing the logo from “Litchfield by The Sea” before the movie started.
According to a map from the Raleigh City Museum I have about Fayetteville St., the Ambassador was located 115 Fayetteville St which would place it one and a half blocks up from where some one mentioned it being at the RBC Building which is located at the 300 block of Fayetteville St. which is also located beside the WTVD Channel 11 Raleigh studios (which was also the old Hudson-Belk Building). The theatre was named the Ambassador in recognition of Josephus Daniels being the ambassador to Mexico at the time.
Yep. Now when you walk down Fayetteville St. or anywhere around downtown and even wait for a city bus, chances are a homeless person will walk up and ask for money.
No, the Ambassador was two blocks up from there towards the Capital Bulding. The RBC Tower was once a parking lot and before that in 1994, it was one of the old First Citizens Bank Buildings. The Fayetteville St. Mall was opened up to pedestrian traffic in 1978 and it just didn’t draw enough people to keep most business afloat and at night it became a ghost town and a haven for the homeless to hide and sleep on the benches until the morning.
Oh, I know and I still long for the days of the old Cardinal theatre. Has the popcorn gotten any better since the Regal group took over from the Eastern Federal? Their pop corn back then was like eating packing sytrofoam-LOL!!!
I wouldn’t know too much about either of them as I am only 40 years old. Maybe the Raleigh City Museum or the News and Observer would have the information.
I have been to this theatre a few times and it is a GREAT place to watch the Super Bowl, but the pop corn is VILE!!!! The last time I was there was in 2000, so it might be different, but the pop corn was not in a tub, it was served in a basket and covered in that awful butter flavored seasoning salt.
Now, this was my favorite theatre in all of Raleigh. It was sad to see it closed down. I wonder if the time capsule that was placed in front of the theatre was ever opened?
I talked to my mother just awhile ago as we are both natives of the area and I asked her about the Capitol. She honestly couldn’t recall it and she is 70, but she did remember the State Theatre which I don’t believe is listed on the list of Raleigh theatres which was on Salisbury St. that is now a parking deck for county employees. She did remember the Ambassador and another theatre called The Wake, but the Capitol just doesn’t ring a bell with her.
The next time I make it to downtown Raleigh, I will look, because it may not be demolished after all. If it ever had been demolished, then a new business was put in its place. I say this because the map I’m looking at from mapquest states that it’s across from the Garland Jones building which used to be the old First Federal Savings and Loan Building, which would mean it was just up from the Wake County Jail and catty cornered across from the Federal Building/Post Office and the Wake County Courthouse.
This theater was the first theater that I ever went to as a child in 1973 and what they were showing was the old movie serials from the 30’s, 40’s and the 50’s. I remember seeing Lethal Weapon 2 and Star Trek V there the last summer that it was open.
I’m surprised there are no postings on this theatre. I remember when it started out as a two screen theatre and then was remodeled into it’s present five screen theatre stage in 1983. It held the national opening night screening of the movie “Brainstorm” as it was filmed here in Raleigh and RTP and featured Natalie Wood in her last screen appearance and Christopher Walken.
God, this theatre was a joke. I never saw a movie there where the projector didn’t brake down and you would have to wait for a half an hour or more for it to be up and running.
I loved the Rialto when it was the Colony. I used to go there in the summer of 1980 and catch the $1.00 matinees of “Star Trek The Motion Picture and all of the horror movies such as Friday the 13th and American Werewolf In London. I even used to play in a Rocky Horror cast from 1990 to 1993.
I remember seeing the remake of King Kong with Jessica Lange there in 1976 when I was 9 years old. I remember that it closed in 1979, but wasn’t it demolished in the summer of 1989? The brochure from the Raleigh City Museum states that it was demolished in 1979. Am I right?
I might have been in that line. This was the opening weekend for The Return of the Jedi and I was there on that first Saturday.
Today, June 8th, 2017 is the day the time capsule will be opened.
The one thing I hated so much about the Studio 1 and 2 that opened up at The Electric Company Mall was the seats were so uncomfortable. It was like sitting on concrete slabs.
I recall before it closed that it showed porn and rocky Horror. The Studio I and II was awful just liked the person described. The auditoriums were claustrophobic and the seats felt like I was sitting on concrete slabs.
This webpage has such a fond review of a theatre that was just pure CRAP!!! Every movie I saw there ALWAYS had the projector malfunction and the service was pitiful-GOOD RIDDANCE!!!
God, I remember standing in line for “Return of the Jedi” on opening weekend standing in a line that went all the way up to Avent Ferry Rd. and toward Western Blvd. I will never forget the long line I was in for “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” and hearing the crowd inside booing when the power went out from the thunder storm while I was outside waiting to get in.
I always liked the soft music they would play while showing the logo from “Litchfield by The Sea” before the movie started.
According to a map from the Raleigh City Museum I have about Fayetteville St., the Ambassador was located 115 Fayetteville St which would place it one and a half blocks up from where some one mentioned it being at the RBC Building which is located at the 300 block of Fayetteville St. which is also located beside the WTVD Channel 11 Raleigh studios (which was also the old Hudson-Belk Building). The theatre was named the Ambassador in recognition of Josephus Daniels being the ambassador to Mexico at the time.
Yep. Now when you walk down Fayetteville St. or anywhere around downtown and even wait for a city bus, chances are a homeless person will walk up and ask for money.
No, the Ambassador was two blocks up from there towards the Capital Bulding. The RBC Tower was once a parking lot and before that in 1994, it was one of the old First Citizens Bank Buildings. The Fayetteville St. Mall was opened up to pedestrian traffic in 1978 and it just didn’t draw enough people to keep most business afloat and at night it became a ghost town and a haven for the homeless to hide and sleep on the benches until the morning.
Oh, I know and I still long for the days of the old Cardinal theatre. Has the popcorn gotten any better since the Regal group took over from the Eastern Federal? Their pop corn back then was like eating packing sytrofoam-LOL!!!
I wouldn’t know too much about either of them as I am only 40 years old. Maybe the Raleigh City Museum or the News and Observer would have the information.
I have been to this theatre a few times and it is a GREAT place to watch the Super Bowl, but the pop corn is VILE!!!! The last time I was there was in 2000, so it might be different, but the pop corn was not in a tub, it was served in a basket and covered in that awful butter flavored seasoning salt.
The way the hallways were leading to the screens, it felt like I was walking through an airport terminal and the employees there were just awful.
Now, this was my favorite theatre in all of Raleigh. It was sad to see it closed down. I wonder if the time capsule that was placed in front of the theatre was ever opened?
I talked to my mother just awhile ago as we are both natives of the area and I asked her about the Capitol. She honestly couldn’t recall it and she is 70, but she did remember the State Theatre which I don’t believe is listed on the list of Raleigh theatres which was on Salisbury St. that is now a parking deck for county employees. She did remember the Ambassador and another theatre called The Wake, but the Capitol just doesn’t ring a bell with her.
The next time I make it to downtown Raleigh, I will look, because it may not be demolished after all. If it ever had been demolished, then a new business was put in its place. I say this because the map I’m looking at from mapquest states that it’s across from the Garland Jones building which used to be the old First Federal Savings and Loan Building, which would mean it was just up from the Wake County Jail and catty cornered across from the Federal Building/Post Office and the Wake County Courthouse.
This theater was the first theater that I ever went to as a child in 1973 and what they were showing was the old movie serials from the 30’s, 40’s and the 50’s. I remember seeing Lethal Weapon 2 and Star Trek V there the last summer that it was open.
I’m surprised there are no postings on this theatre. I remember when it started out as a two screen theatre and then was remodeled into it’s present five screen theatre stage in 1983. It held the national opening night screening of the movie “Brainstorm” as it was filmed here in Raleigh and RTP and featured Natalie Wood in her last screen appearance and Christopher Walken.
God, this theatre was a joke. I never saw a movie there where the projector didn’t brake down and you would have to wait for a half an hour or more for it to be up and running.
I loved the Rialto when it was the Colony. I used to go there in the summer of 1980 and catch the $1.00 matinees of “Star Trek The Motion Picture and all of the horror movies such as Friday the 13th and American Werewolf In London. I even used to play in a Rocky Horror cast from 1990 to 1993.
The theatre is demolished
I remember seeing the remake of King Kong with Jessica Lange there in 1976 when I was 9 years old. I remember that it closed in 1979, but wasn’t it demolished in the summer of 1989? The brochure from the Raleigh City Museum states that it was demolished in 1979. Am I right?