a brief timeline

history*

The building at 954 Highland Avenue, from its construction in 1940 to its uncertain future today.

1940 – 1955

State Theater

Constructed in 1940, the building opened as State Theater, a neighborhood movie house and gathering place for the thriving Black community in Centennial Hill — a neighborhood devastated by the addition of the interstate junctions in the 1950s.

1979 – 1997

Top Flight Disco

A favorite party place for generations of Montgomery’s residents, Top Flight Disco served as a cultural hub for the city’s Black community — a site where talent shows and other celebrations brought people of all sorts together.

1998 – 2013

The Rose Supper Club

One of Montgomery’s premier music venues, the Rose hosted some of Alabama’s hottest rap shows, including regular appearances by Deuce Komradz, Dirty, Lil Chappy, and more. Tragically, it is also the site of Doe B’s murder in 2013, leading to its forcible closure that year.

October 2025

Slated for Demolition

After over a decade of vacancy, the building was determined by the Montgomery City Council to be an unsafe structure and was authorized for demolition — despite its historical, architectural, and cultural significance.

Today

Conservation?

Now under new ownership, 954 Highland remains at risk of demolition. With the community’s help, we hope to preserve the building’s facade and reconstruct its interior to return it to a productive site of community badly needed in this part of Montgomery.

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