Bilheimer Capitol Theatre

The Capitol Theatre opened on Cleveland Street on March 21, 1921 with a screening of the silent film Dinty. Built by State Senator John S. Taylor, it was described by the Clearwater News at the time as one of the most beautifully finished playhouses in the South, and for the next seventy years it hosted whatever was passing through — vaudeville acts including Sally Rand, Fred Stone and Lum & Abner, the Miss Florida Pageant, the Clearwater Symphony, and a great many movies.

It was restored in 1999–2000 and then substantially rebuilt in 2013, expanding westward into the old 1917 Clearwater News building next door. It now runs as part of the Ruth Eckerd Hall family under the name of donors Nancy and David Bilheimer.

There are 739 fixed seats, which makes it the most intimate serious room in Tampa Bay — a place where a legacy act on a theatre tour plays to a crowd that can see their hands. Tribute shows, singer-songwriters, comedians and heritage rock acts fill most of the calendar.

One detail worth knowing: some original 1921 seats are on display in the building. They turned up at a Clearwater estate sale in 2013.