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The gem that is the Community Arts Center began life as the Capitol Theatre in downtown Williamsport.
One of several theaters to operate in the city through the years, the Capitol opened its doors on Oct. 28, 1928. According to the history of the theater, movie-goers were treated to the first talkie in the area with the showing of Al Jolson's "The Singing Fool."
The theater had been equipped with a state-of-the-art projector and an organ designed to provide "percussion and orchestral sounds and special effects such as whistles, songbirds, doorbells and thunder crashes."
Not only did the Capitol provide movies for city residents, but topline entertainers of the day also graced the stage of the theater. Names such as Gene Krupa, Xavier Cugat and the Three Stooges brought their acts for the enjoyment of area residents.
As the 1920's ended, the Great Depression brought an end to the prosperity of the country, including the entertainment industry. Disaster also struck the area when in 1936 a flood damaged areas of the city, including the Capitol Theatre.
From the 1930's until the end of World War II, the country was changing. As the population moved away from the city to the developing suburbs, entertainment began changing also with the addition of television to living rooms, Gone were the days when people had to leave their homes to see the news run on a newsreel at the theater, or watch the latest installment of their favorite series.
As theater after theater closed in the city, the Capitol remained, the shine on the gem of a theater dimmed by age and neglect.
In the early 1990's, the Pennsylvania College of Technology, along with the then-Williamsport Foundation and the City announced plans for the college to refurbish the Capitol, while still preserving the grandeur of the original 1920's structure. Millions of dollars went into the project and the doors reopened in May 1993 as the Community Arts Center.