Alabama Theatre

Sep 1

Interstate Theaters opened the Alabama Theatre on Nov. 2, 1939, the same year as the River Oaks Theatre. The Art Moderne style theater was designed by Dallas architect Scott Duane. In 1983, the Alabama Theatre closed and reopened as a Bookstop in 1984.

*The Alabama Theatre in 1939, the year it opened. Bob Bailey Studio, Inc.*

In 2004, Weingarten Realty bought the entire Alabama Shepherd Shopping Center. Weingarten considered razing the historic theater in order to build high-rise development on the site. The Alabama Theatre was placed on Preservation Texas’s 2007 MEP list due to the threat of demolition.

In 2011, Trader Joe's announced it would open another Houston location in the former Alabama Theatre building. The Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission approved the changes the company proposed, but some accents were preserved. Trader Joe's opened in September of 2012, on Shepherd Drive. One of the most noticeable remnants the company kept of the Alabama Theatre was a turquoise Art Deco ceiling medallion, which was restored when the building went through the conversion from bookstore to grocery store.