Boutwell Auditorium

Municipal Auditorium, c. 1937

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Boutwell Auditorium (also known as Boutwell Memorial Auditorium, Historical Boutwell Municipal Auditorium, and formerly Municipal Auditorium) is a city-owned 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena located at 1930 8th Avenue North, facing Linn Park. The total capacity of the hall, utilizing floor seating, is 6,000.

The auditorium is home to the Birmingham Power basketball team. Kevin Arrington is the facility's director.

History

Municipal Auditorium was constructed by the city in 1924 to designs created by a committee of local architects working with consultant Thomas W. Lamb, one of the country's foremost theater architects. The style, executed in red brick, could be called Northern Italian or Lombard, with its characteristic arched corbels running up the shallow gable. The building was to serve as a hall for conventions, balls, speeches and performances. It was the first municipal building to be constructed around what is now a governmental "campus" centered around Linn Park. A World War I memorial, donated to the American Legion, Birmingham Post No. 1 by the city's Greek-American citizens, was displayed prominently at the front entrance.

A 1957 renovation, executed by Charles McCauley, added to the lobby and meeting room space in front of the brick facade, giving the street view of the auditorium a decidedly modernist marble, aluminum and glass look. The exhibition area has a maximum capacity of 1,000.

The building was later renamed for former mayor Albert Boutwell.

Notable events

The auditorium hosted the 1948 States Rights Democratic Convention at which Strom Thurmond was nominated to run against Harry Truman.

On April 10, 1956 singer Nat King Cole was assaulted by three white assailants during a performance.

The first Southern Conference for Human Rights was held at the auditorium, attended by Eleanor Roosevelt, Hugo Black, Bibb Graves and Mary McLeod Bethune.

In 1996 the first sections of a the Birmingham Urban Mural were erected on a steel framework on the exterior east wall of the auditorium.

In 1997 Boutwell hosted a watershed event for Birmingham's gay community. After ABC 33/40 declined to air the episode of the television sitcom Ellen which portrayed the title character "coming out" as a lesbian, Birmingham Pride Alabama, with help from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, organized a screening of the episode at Boutwell. Approximately 2,500 people attended the event and listened to a series of speakers proclaim that gays in Birmingham would no longer be invisible.

Recurring events

Boutwell has routinely hosted the Festival of Arts, the All-City Christmas Music Festival, the Martin Luther King Day Prayer Breakfast and other public events. It was also the location for most of WVOK-AM's memorable Shower of Stars concerts.

Status

Master plans for the future of the Birmingham Museum of Art, which adjoins Boutwell Auditorium, have included expanding onto its current site. The possibility was made part of the Regional Cultural Arts Master Plan in 2002.

In December 2007, Mayor Larry Langford asked the Birmingham City Council to demolish the building, which he claimed had an annual operating deficit of more than $1 million. He recommended that the site be donated to the Museum for future expansion.

References

• White, Marjorie Longenecker (1977) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham:Birmingham Historical Society.
• Bryant, Joseph D. (February 19, 2006) "Boutwell has history, but not considered historic." Birmingham News.
• Boulard, Garry. (June 24, 1997) You can go home again." The Advocate.

External links

• Boutwell Auditorium at informationbirmingham.com
• seating chart