Norwood Theatre
1130 N. Wood Avenue,
Florence,
AL
35630
1130 N. Wood Avenue,
Florence,
AL
35630
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Thanks for the update, Shoals!
The performing arts live on at the site of the Norwood though… the site of the theater is now the 7 Points “Pocket Park” where outdoor plays and concerts are held occasionally.
The Norwood burned down on the morning of Sunday, August 18, 1968 at 8:25am. If you check out the comments of the Tuscumbian Theatre, it provides a link to the opening day ad of the Tuscumbian in the local paper. After you have checked out this, click Browse This Newspaper and type in the date August 19, 1968 and you will see the front page news was the fire at the Norwood, with a picture of the theatre with the Alan Arkin Film Inspector Clouseau on the marquee. There is also an article in the August 20th edition of the paper about the fire. As stated above, the theatre opened in March of 1948. It seated 564 and in 1961 was purchased by and became part of the Martin chain. The fire totally destroyed the building and it was never rebuilt.
The Norwood was still going strong in the mid to late 60s. It did a good business with the college crowd as it was within walking distance from Florence State University (now University of North Alabama). The last movie I saw at the Norwood was in the Spring of 1968 and I believe it was Thoroughly Modern Millie. I went home from college for the summer, and when I returned in the Fall of 1968 the Norwood had burned down. It was torn down and never replaced.