East Lake Aquatic Theater
The East Lake Aquatic Theater, also known as the East Lake Casino Theatre or East Lake Park Theater was a 1,500-seat performance venue for staged entertainments built onto a 108-foot by 159-foot wooden platform 5 feet above the surface of the artificial lake at East Lake Park.
The stage itself was 68 feet wide by 21 feet deep and 23 feet from the platform to the roof. Admission to nightly shows through the summer months was 25 cents. Visitors were able to proceed directly to the theater from the East Lake Railroad passenger platform on a continuous 20 foot-wide covered boardwalk. A board fence at the edges of the platform nearest the shore prevented non-paying visitors from watching the entertainments within earshot.
In 1904 manager Jake Wells partnered with other investors to raise $40,000, half of which would be expended immediately to improve the park facilities, including the addition of a roof over the theater. A 1909 postcard view from the top of the "Shoot the Chute" ride shows a steep gabled roof. A 1911 insurance map indicates that the covered area was about 70 feet wide by 100 feet front-to-back, with an eave height of 15 feet.
John L. White's Great Alabama Minstrels, who made their East Lake debut on August 20, 1910, were the first Black entertainers to perform at the park.
References
- Brabston, Thomas de Granville (April 20, 1904) "Birmingham Railway, Light & Power Co." Street Railway Review. Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 225-237