Teatro el Capitán

Teatro El Capitán was a Spanish language theatre that existed from 1950 to 1970 in downtown Lubbock. The venue was operated by movie exhibitor veteran Hiram Parks whose career in theatrical exhibition dated to the late-sound era when he was with Warner Brothers. Parks would go on to operate a chain of theaters in Brownfield before taking on the Plains Theatre in Lubbock. He bought the Boyd Meat Market building and had it razed in early-1950 to construct a theatre for the growing Hispanic marketplace at 713 Broadway.

The $45,000 El Capitan Theatre opening was covered by the national trade press but not by the English-language local newspapers of the day. The trade press was quite interested in what Parks was doing in Brownfield and Lubbock and what other exhibitors like J.J. Rodriguez was doing in Dallas to increase theatre-going among underserved markets. With television gaining eyeballs, any uptrend in audience was monitored. Jewell Truex and Gordon Dunlap were among the Latin American distributors attending the November 1950 launch of the El Capitan in Lubbock.

Parks would become a hero to the Hispanic community by providing entertainment venues for the Spanish speaking community. While grateful for their support and praise, Parks suggested that the actual driver of the film programming was his inability to get first-run Hollywood product which he actually preferred in order to compete with chain theatres. In any event, Parks became a respected member of the community for his efforts.

Arcadia/Chief operators Wendell O. Bearden, Preston E. Smith and Irma Mae Smith became strange bedfellows to Parks. Despite being competitors, each took on the major studios with charging them with anti-competitive business practices. And Parks would have known of them from his days at Warner Bros. They would testify against chain theatres which, eventually, led to the Paramount decree and the major studios divestiture of their movie theatres.

Basing the terms of operation on a presumed 40-year initial leasing deal, the El Capitan Theatre operated for exactly 20 years. In 1966, the venue was converted to a theatre/restaurant by Parks. And among his guests was the aforementioned Preston E. Smith – then Lieutenant Governor on his way to the Texas gubernatorial role in three years. The seating was reduced to 536 seats with 125 tables so that folks could do movie and dinner simultaneously. An idea well before its time, and the concept was discontinued in 1970, likely at the opt out point of a leasing contract. However, that conversion was covered by the national trade press and the local media due to its innovativeness.

The former El Capitán appears to have been dark from 1970 to 1972; with no takers, Parks opened the Freeman’s Club there from 1972 through 1979. In 1980, the venue was home to Studio One. At the end of its 40-year lease, the building was vacant and sold twice in 1990 and 1992. A decision was made to demolish the building after 1995 when it became a member of the parking lot brigade. O Capitán! My Capitán! Where on the deck my Capitán lies. Fallen cold and dead.

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