Capitol Theatre (Rome, New York)

The Capitol Theatre is a theatre operating in Rome, New York. It opened December 10, 1928 as part of the Kallet chain of movie houses, presenting first run films until it closed in 1974. After extensive renovation, the theatre re-opened in 1985 as the non-profit Capitol Civic Center, offering classic films, live theatrical performances, and concerts.

Early movie theaters in Rome in the 20th century consisted of nickelodeons: the Idle Hour, the Casino and the Romohawk, which were located downtown. The larger Carroll was built in 1911, followed by the Star in 1914.

In 1910 brothers Myron J. and J.S. Kallet of Syracuse rented their first store in the Onondaga Valley to operate as a nickelodeon. They began to build an empire. By 1920 they formed the Carroll Theater Amusement Company and purchased the Carroll, renaming it as the Strand, their first theater in Rome. In the few years following, the Kallets bought the Star and the 1907 Lyric. It had been showing films intermittently mixed with live programming under various names: the Lyric, followed by the Family, Regent, and finally renamed the Family again.

In 1925, the Kallets were expanding their operations to purchase theaters in cities other than Rome and Oneida; they changed the name of their corporation to Kallet Theaters, Inc. The following year, they made an alliance with the M. E. Commerford Amusement Company of Scranton, Pennsylvania, gaining the booking facilities of the Commerford company and its subsidiary, Amalgamated-Vaudeville.

First announced on December 30, 1926, the deal for the new, then-unnamed Kallet theater was closed on March 21, 1927. The property for the new theater on West Dominick street was sold to the Kallets and Commerford Companies by the owner, John R. Harper. The property comprised 100 feet frontage on West Dominick street, including numbers 212 to 224, and 200 feet depth to West Willett street. The lot was previously owned by the Hager and Beck families of Rome, who sold the lot to Harper for his business.

Initial details of the newly named Capitol Theatre were announced in August 1927. Leon H. Lempert Jr. of Rochester, New York, was commissioned to do the design. His father had designed the Washington Street Opera House in Rome. At an estimated cost of $500,000 to build, initial specifications called for four store-fronts, a second floor of offices, and a third floor of apartments. The auditorium was designed to seat 2,500, and would show both silent and the new talking pictures, as well as "anything that can be seen on Broadway."

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