4. Roebling Chair House Left, Auditorium Prominent philanthropist and inventor, Donald Roebling, earned fame as creator of the amphibious military vehicle “The Alligator” and served as the President of the Board of Directors for Morton Plant Hospital for many years. Mr. Roebling frequented the theatre often during the 1950s and being large both in character and stature, he had his own custom “double-wide” seat installed. Located in the last row on house left, a replica of the Roebling Chair is sold as a cozy seat for two.
7. Façade Front Exterior of Building When the façade was stripped, workers uncovered the original marble slab carved with the theatre name. The spelling of “Theater” on the slab is different than what is in original documents. One theory is that it was misspelled originally, but by the time the error was noticed, it was too expensive to correct. It was an exciting surprise as it was assumed that the etching was either destroyed or removed when the façade was altered over the years.
5. Clearwater Sun Newspaper Mezzanine, Second Floor Clearwater Sun was in print from 1914-1989. The original building that housed the paper was located at the corner of Osceola and Cleveland Streets. During renovations the building was absorbed into the new Capitol Theatre. The original brick framework is exposed and visible in the theatre today. The original Clearwater Sun sign can be seen in the mezzanine seating area on house right. 6. Organ Pipe Loft House Left Proscenium, Auditorium A Robert-Morton theatre organ was installed in 1922 to accompany silent films and vaudeville acts. Once the “talkies” were invented, the organ continued to entertain before the main event. The Wicks Opus 415 model had almost 800 pipes hidden on each side of the proscenium. The organ was removed in 1962, but the large alcoves that housed the pipes can still be seen, now covered with acoustical panels.
8. Spirits? The Capitol Theatre was featured on the television series Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal and continues to receive attention from paranormal investigators. Typical of a historic theatre, tales of ghosts and unexplained phenomena are collected over the years including: • The sea captain who rented a room next door and likes to step in to escape the heat. • The vanishing little girl who waits in the lobby for her parents. • The observer who bangs seats in the mezzanine while set builders work late into the night. • The angel who visited a former owner in the auditorium. • The performer heard pacing the dressing room while it was uninhabited.
A BRIEF HISTORY IN TIME