Occupying a large site on the corner of Bennochy Road and St. Brycedale Avenue in the centre of Kirkcaldy, the Adam Smith Theatre is the principal arts venue in S Fife, serving both as a theatre and cinema. Built 1894-99 as the Adam Smith Hall it features a sizeable ashlar facade in a plain Baroque style to competition-winning designs by Edinburgh-based architects Dunn & Findlay, the theatre is now B-listed. Provost Michael Beveridge had called for the building of public entertainment venue as a memorial to the economist and philosopher Adam Smith (1723-90), Kirkcaldy's most famous son, and left a considerable sum in this will for this purpose. The theatre opened on 11th October 1899 by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who described it as "a hall with a fine organ and stage suitable for concerts, charades, private theatricals, meetings of philanthropic committees, lectures upon interesting and instructive topics and entertainments of all kinds". The building was completely refurbished in 1973 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Smith's birth. The 475-seat venue is now operated by Fife Cultural Trust an arms-length charitable company which manages cultural services on behalf of the owners, Fife Council.
