Iconic Florida Theatre set for a facelift

Partnering with City Council members, Mayor Alvin Brown announced Jacksonville will provide money along with a state grant to repair and restore the façade of the Florida Theatre. “The historic Florida Theatre is home to cultural and entertainment events that have improved our quality of life for four generations,” said Brown outside the historic theater, which opened 88 years ago this week. “It has played a key role in making Downtown Jacksonville a destination for more than 100,000 people each year, from the earliest motion pictures and stage shows, to modern artists, musicians, and speakers who inspire public dialogue. I am proud to work with the State of Florida and our vibrant cultural community in a public-private partnership to maintain this vital cultural resource.” “As the owner of the building, the City would have to make these repairs eventually, but because this historic theatre is managed by a nonprofit corporation, the Florida Theatre Performing Arts Center, Inc., we were able to secure two-thirds of the cost from a state grant, and be proactive about the repair. This is a great example of why public-private partnerships between city government and the nonprofit sector, especially concerning our historic cultural institutions, work so well,” Florida Theatre President Numa C. Saisselin said. More than 150,000 people attended 151 events at the Florida Theatre last year, generating a $9.9 million economic impact for the city in 2014. Under legislation filed with City Council on Wednesday, the City of Jacksonville will contribute $75,000 to meet the state’s requirements for a $150,000 grant awarded by the Florida Department of State’s Bureau of Historic Preservation. The project will restore and repair terra cotta elements on the exterior of the building, replacing deteriorating terra cotta features with castings to match the original, renewing deteriorated glazing, and grouting and caulking joints as needed. The target completion date is June 2016. The Florida Theatre is one of 28 sites statewide to receive the grant and the only site selected in Duval County. Opened in 1927, the theatre offered a wide variety of entertainment to Jacksonville residents over the next five decades, from international stars like Elvis Presley to locally produced opera, dance, and dramatic performances, and civic use. In 1980 it closed, and the following year, the Cultural Council’s precursor, the Arts Assembly of Jacksonville, launched a $4.1 million capital campaign to support restoration and renovation of the facility. Its reopening on October 1, 1983, marked the culmination of the most ambitious and successful arts project undertaken at that time in Jacksonville.

Today, the Florida Theatre Performing Arts Center, Inc. manages the city-owned facility, hosting community events such as the Jacksonville Film Festival, the Florida Ballet, and this week’s One Spark Speaker Series, as well as headliner concerts such as Natalie Merchant, Merle Haggard, Dave Chappelle, Queens of the Stone Age and John Legend.