SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. (WTVF) — For about eight years, people wondered if the day would come when the Springfield Capitol Theater would be back. Friday was that day.
I stopped in about an hour before doors opened.
"We're about 24/30 hours behind, and that's just life in construction, opening up a business," said Michael Crawley. "We're just frantically trying to get things cleaned up and get the ball rolling for the first guest to come in."
Crawley's from Springfield. He's always known this theater downtown.
"Sneak into any R rated movies when you were a kid?" I asked him.
"Not that I can remember. I'll plead the fifth on that," Crawley smiled.
The story of the Capitol Theatre far predates Crawley. It first opened in the 1930s. This part is the stuff I love. 1950s promotions just went all out, and a tank was brought to the theater to push the 1951 film The Tanks Are Coming. This place has stories to tell. In 2018, it closed.
"It felt like the city was disappointed that it closed," Crawley nodded. "It felt like it could make a comeback."
Yes, but it'd take a while. I visited in 2024 while preservationist Gary Bowie was in the middle of a five-year renovation project.
"We want somebody to take on what we started," Bowie said in 2024.
That person ended up being Crawley, owner of MDI Construction, who bought the theater.
"You're here about an hour early!" I told a couple standing outside the theater.
"We wanted to make sure we got our popcorn!" one of them told me.
The time came for doors to open.
Immediately, we were all just talking movies.
"What movies do you remember seeing here?" I asked a woman.
"Oh gosh, hun. The Pink Panther!"
"You're talking about Peter Sellers in The Pink Panther?" I asked her.
"Oh my gosh, you did not mention Peter Sellers!" she laughed.
"Hook with Robin Williams!" a mom said, taking her daughter to see a movie.
"I also saw Hook in theaters, so I don't feel it's that old," I told her.
A lot of this crowd would have been to see a movie the last time the Capitol was open. A place full of stories has a new one. A Toy Story. Toy Story 5 is the first film to show in the Capitol's return.
"Toy Story's for grown-ups too!" I told a bearded man who suspiciously looked like Santa Claus.
"Well, of course, it is!" he agreed. "Why wouldn't Santa show up to Toy Story, y'know?"
There's something Crawley hopes people take from the theater. Well, besides what they get from Santa.
"Hey, this is for you!" the bearded man said, handing me a toy.
It was a little patriotic bearded figure.
No, Crawley's hoping this is a place of memories, brand new ones, and maybe a little reflecting on memories from a few years back.
"I even worked here, and in return for my work, I got to watch movies free!" one woman remembered.
"What's better than that?" I asked her.
"There's not much better than that!"
"This felt like a great way to give back to a city that's given so much to me and my family," Crawley said.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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