The Don Gibson Theater

Carl stops by the Don Gibson Theater on 318 Washington St. in Shelby, NC, to trace the venue’s history from its founding in 1939 to its current place as an entertainment hotspot that attracts folks from all across the country! He sits down with General Manager Stan Lowery, who discusses the Don Gibson Theater’s establishment at a critical point in American cinema history. Known as the State Theater at the time, some of the first films played there include Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Several decades later, the theater was on the brink of being torn down and turned into a parking lot. However, a group of citizens came together to form the nonprofit Destination Cleveland County to bring “some energy and vitality back to the town.” As fate would have it, one of the group’s ideas was to revitalize the historic theater, renaming it The Don Gibson Theater after the famous 1950s country singer. Carl also speaks with singer-songwriter Jim Stafford, who says that preserving the theater “is not just preserving the past but preserving it with a real interest in the now and the future. This place is going to outlive all of us.”