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Property Manager Jacksonville Florida
Designed by Jacksonville architect Roy Benjamin and famed interior designer R.E. Hall of New York, the Florida Theatre opened to much fanfare. And the scene did not disappoint. The magnificent structure features many characteristics of the Mediterranean Revival style of architecture and is punctuated by an ornate, six-story-high proscenium arch that looms beautifully over the auditorium. According to the theatre’s website, “the architects envisioned a Moorish courtyard at night, resplendent with glittering stars, grand balconies and fountains.”
For its time, the Florida Theatre was technologically advanced, boasting unique features like central heating and air conditioning and vacuuming systems. Unfortunately, one favorite early aspect is gone – a roof garden where patrons sipped champagne and danced beneath the stars.
An Evening At the Theatre
The Florida Theatre, like many theatres of the day, was designed to accommodate both stage and screen shows. Back then, going to the movies was a much different experience than we know today. A typical evening out at the theatre typically consisted of six elements: a news reel, comedy short, a cartoon or travelogue (a short program highlighting a travel destination or story), an overture by a band performed on the theatre’s moveable orchestra pit, a stage presentation and, finally, the silent feature film.
Such programs fell by the wayside with the fall of Vaudeville, the advent of the talkies and the financial despair of the Great Depression. Despite a few short-term closings, creative management, marketing and programming kept the Florida Theatre open and out of bankruptcy.