Carolina Theatre /

The Carolina Theatre of Durham is a theater in downtown Durham, North Carolina. The city owns the facility and it operates under the stewardship of a nonprofit organization named The Carolina Theatre of Durham, Incorporated. In 1923, the city of Durham chose to construct an auditorium on a lot adjacent to Morris Street School. Bids for construction were accepted on May 1, 1925 and the budget was set at $250,000. The building was completed in 1926 and opened on February 2 of that year with the Kiwanis Jollies. The Carolina Theatre was the first theater in Durham to admit African-Americans, although there were still segregated ticket lines and lounge areas until the summer of 1963. The theater's popularity rose during the World War II years and soldiers from Camp Butner were bused to the theater to watch movies. In 1977, the North Carolina Department of Archives and History completed a historic survey of Downtown Durham and recognized The Carolina Theatre as a "significant building in the city" and the center portion of downtown was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Carolina Theatre remains the last of thirteen original theaters in the city. The most recent