History of the
Langdale Theater
An acoustically engineered masterpiece, the Langdale Theater is in the community of Langdale, in the city of Valley, Alabama. The theater was originally a movie theater and opened on May 6, 1937.
Over the years as movies gave way to television, the theater was closed, except for use by the adjacent LaFayette Lanier Elementary School. As funds for education became more scarce, maintaining the theater took a low priority in the late 70's and early 80's. The building (the only one left of six original theaters in the Valley area), had deteriorated to the point that the school children could no longer use it safely, and the talk was to tear it down for parking space.
In December of 1986 a group of citizens interested in saving this fine old building got together and set out to raise approximately a quarter of a million dollars. Through the generosity of a lot of people and volunteer labor, the building was completely renovated, maintaining as much of its originality (even down to the opera side-lights), as possible. The 660 seat stately building is now used as a performing arts center and is ideal for concerts, plays and any function that blends with days gone by.
A grand reopening was held on May 22, 1993. The restoration and preservation of this historic landmark is dedicated to the memory of Robert Bruce Gray, who was probably most responsible for us having and enjoying this fine theater today.