Talladega’s Historic Ritz Theatre is celebrating its 85^th Anniversary as a national Art Deco landmark theatre. This iconic venue was saved from virtual demolition in the mid-90’s by a passionate cadre of citizens, who envisioned what the long-term historic, economic and cultural attributes that a pridefully restored and vital center of cultural and civic activity in the downtown Courthouse Square Historic District would provide for the City of Talladega.

Since its opening in February 1998 as a regionally focused performing arts and civic events center, the success of the 520-seat Ritz has been widely lauded as a model public/private partnership between the City and Talladega First Inc., a local nonprofit organization that manages the facility. A cumulative capital investment of $1.55 Million to date (60% private sector funded) has resulted in a perfect historic restoration of the façade, together with a beautifully renovated interior enhanced by superb technical capabilities. Programming at the Ritz involves presenting first-class professional artists seasons and curated seasonal film series, community collaborations with area nonprofits that most frequently are fundraisers for local charities; plus valued, curriculum-based arts education initiatives in partnership with area schools that have engaged over 108,000 students since 1998.

Notably, American historic theatre aficionados consider the Ritz “one of the best surviving examples of the main street theatres of the 1930s,” largely due to its unique façade where every inch is covered in “Vitrolite” glass. Vitrolite is a brand name for the opaque structural glass that was commonly utilized in Art Deco designs throughout the 20s and 30s. The nation’s top Vitrolite specialist, Tim Dunn of St. Louis, MO, completed the original façade restoration in 1997, replacing 119 of 322 panels with salvaged historic glass in perfect matching colors of French vanilla, sea green, cranberry red and black. Just last spring, Mr. Dunn returned to complete a restoration repair commission, when he replaced 22 Vitrolite panels at street level that had been damaged over the last two decades. “It’s a magnificent jewel. There’s not another historic theatre facade like it anywhere in the country,“ Dunn opined.

Martin Theatres Inc., a 19^th Century, Columbus GA based regional movie theatre chain across the Southeast, built the Ritz which opened in 1937. According to the American Historic Theatre Society, the Ritz architect was R.N. McEachren, a regionally prominent architect of the era, whose Coffee County Bank building in Douglas GA is on the National Register. McEachren’s flamboyant geometric façade design features classic Art Deco motifs such as Greek keys, chevrons and a step-shaped configuration of the theatre’s three-story roof line. His use of colored structural glass on the façade was exemplary of the Deco period departure from convention, in favoring industrial materials prized for sleek surfaces and light reflecting capabilities. 

The Martin company changed the theatre’s name to the Martin Theatre and modified the original marquee with vertical blade in the late 50s. Due to economic viability and film industry trends, the company finally closed the theatre in the early 70s and built a multiscreen cinema on the edge of town. Over the next 20 years, the very survival of the Ritz structure was tenuous until the community mobilized in the mid-90s to save their iconic downtown movie house.  The Ritz has since become an indispensable cultural asset and important tourist destination attraction for Talladega.

During the 2022 April in Talladega Pilgrimage, the Ritz will screen the Southern-themed motion picture, “Fried Green Tomatoes,” based on the beloved novel by actress-comedian-author Fannie Flagg. The two admission-free screenings – at 7:00 pm on Friday and 3:30 pm on Saturday, April 8 & 9 — will be a special, heartfelt salute to Ms. Flagg, who gave the very first contribution that energized the initial 1996-1997 capital campaign to restore Talladega’s Historic Ritz Theatre.