Florida Theatre (Jacksonville)

When what was once a police station and city jail was demolished, work began to construct a theater in its place. Southern Enterprises, Inc. received permits to construct a seven-story, concrete theater and commercial building in 1926, and on June 20, the foundation work began. By August 10, the first steel had been erected by the general contractor, the George A. Fuller Company. With R.E. Hall & Co., Inc. acting as designers and architect Roy A. Benjamin assisting, the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida became the sixth theater on Forsyth Street alone, with the others in a row spanning a four-block stretch. Over 40 rail cars were required to ship 1,200 tons of steel, and unconventional methods for the time were used for many aspects of the building. It only took 21 days to lay 1 million bricks because it was the first job anywhere in the South to use ready-mixed mortar, and two-thirds of the balcony, which was constructed in 10 days, was supported by just two steel trusses. One girder alone weighed 65 tons.

On April 8, 1927, the theater officially opened, with state-of-the-art features and decorations. The Florida Theatre was designed in the Mediterranean Revival style, with French, Spanish, and Italian furnishings, marble and wrought iron railings, decorative columns and molding, wrought iron and amber glass chandeliers, and terrazzo and tile floors. The wall hangings were woven in France and Italy, with the French act curtain, designed for live performances, requiring nine months to deliver with the largest fringe ever attempted at 36 inches high. It had ornate fountains and balconies, a roof garden, and a $100,000 Wurlitzer organ, which was the second-largest Wurlitzer created anywhere. The theater was also special for its advanced technologies. It was the first theater in the city with central air conditioning, and also had heating and a nursery. There were also three silent film projectors that included high intensity arc lamps, as well as two spotlights and one effect light that could display a variety of colors.

Upon opening, ticket prices were set at 25 and 50 cents for a matinee, and 25 and 60 cents for nighttime showings. Daily, there were three different deluxe presentations, which included a Paramount News reel, a comedy, a travelogue or cartoon, an overture by the live orchestra, a stage presentation, and then the feature film. However, because the theater opened during the years of segregation, it was a “whites only” theater at the time, not beginning integration until the mid to late 1960s. Due to this time period, the Florida Theatre was also not just for movies or feature presentations. It had a full theater stage with wing space and dressing rooms, making it a venue for operas, dances, theatrical productions, trade shows, fashion shows, and charity benefits. The theater hosted hundreds of famous shows and performers over its years, including those by Frank Morris, Blue Steele, Banjo James, Paul Whiteman, and more. The local radio station, WJAX, often broadcasted performances from the theater. One of the most famous performances was over the course of two days on August 10 and 11, 1956, when Elvis Presley played six shows in the theater, bringing in 10,000 attendees. According to Presley’s guitarist, Scotty Moore, it was in the Florida Theatre that Presley picked up his signature lip curl and “finger thing,” as he was taunting a judge in the audience who threatened to pass out arrest warrants for “impairing the morals of minors” if Presley’s movements on stage were too suggestive.

Only two years after the theater’s opening, the Great Depression hit, forcing the theater to make changes to stay open. Owners implemented games such as Screeno, a bingo game that used the movie screen, gave ticket buyers the chance to win $100 on Monday night “Bank Nights,” and provided toys and treats to underprivileged youth during holidays such as Christmas through the Happy Hearts Club, a program that lasted nearly 20 years. To promote movies, ushers wore costumes coinciding with the film, such as tuxedos or Hawaiian shirts and leis. Despite efforts to keep the theater running, by the late 1960s, television had affected attendance. To counter this, rocking-chair seats were installed, and the Florida Theatre began showing racial exploitation films such as Super Fly, Blacula, and Foxy Brown, as well as Kung Fu movies, around 1972. While the audience makeup at that time was becoming slightly integrated, after the theater began showing those movies, it became almost entirely Black. Although the films remained staples and kept the theater running for some time, in 1980, it was closed.

After the Florida Theatre’s closing, the mayor, city council, Jacksonville delegation to the State Legislature, and Arts Assembly of Jacksonville collaborated to begin an extensive renovation and reopen its doors once more. After a $500,00 grant from the State of Florida and a $350,000 grant from the City of Jacksonville Department of Housing and Urban Community Development, in addition to $150,000 raised and borrowed funds, the Arts Assembly of Jacksonville purchased the theater on October 31, 1981, for $1 million. A 1982-1983 fundraising drive sought $4 million for restoration, renovation, equipment, and start-up costs. The restoration began with a kick-off party and 1,000 attendees on September 25, 1982, with actual restorations beginning December 28 that same year. The original balcony seats were restored, rocking-chair seats removed, and the 1950s concession stand and current marquee were retained.

The Florida Theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 4, 1982, and the box office reopened the following year, on September 7, 1983. October 1, 1983 was the grand reopening, and from that time until March 4 the following year, 69,593 people had attended 73 performances of 53 events. The theater remained a popular host to famous artists, including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bon Jovi, Fleetwood Mac, Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, and Johnny Cash. One of the first four performances upon reopening was an African American act. Over time, the theater has received numerous awards for the restoration and operations, including from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission, the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects, and more. On September 5, 2002, the last of the other five theaters on the street, Center Theatre, fell down, making the Florida Theatre the last remaining historic theater still standing.

1. The Florida Theater, Jacksonville Historical Society. Accessed October 23rd 2020. https://www.jaxhistory.org/portfolio-items/florida-theater/.
2. A THING OF BEAUTY, A PALACE OF DREAMS, Florida Theatre. Accessed October 23rd 2020. https://floridatheatre.com/about-ft/history/.
3. Marbut, Max. Downtown history: The Florida Theatre, Jacksonville Daily Record. Accessed October 23rd 2020. https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/downtown-history-florida-theatre.
4. A Brief History of the Florida Theatre, The Coastal. June 25th 2020. Accessed October 23rd 2020. https://thecoastal.com/flashback/a-brief-history-of-the-florida-theatre/.