FLORIDA THEATRE

By  Mike Miller November 16, 2025

Florida Theatre in downtown Jacksonville, Florida opened in 1927 as a movie palace. It now serves as a performing arts center.

The historic building is seven stories high with a 1,900-seat auditorium. It’s designed in the Mediterranean Revival style.

Currently the locale hosts concerts, plays, and films. It’s the last remaining movie palace in northeast Florida.

The property was first owned by Publix Theaters (no relation to the grocery chain), tied to Paramount Pictures. They hired New York architect R.E. Hall of McKim, Mead & White to lead the design.

Roy A. Benjamin served as the local architect. He designed several other theaters in Jacksonville. The Florida Theatre is designed in the Spanish Eclectic style, more commonly known as Mediterranean Revival.

Construction started in summer 1926. Workers laid one million bricks in 21 days. The build cost $1.5 million and marked the South's first use of ready-mixed mortar. Adjusted for inflation, that's roughly $26 million today.

The stage of the Florida Theatre was designed for live performances as well as the motion picture screen, and no expense was spared on the venue’s interior. It was the largest theater in Florida at the time.

The $100,000 Wurlitzer organ console was the second-largest Wurlitzer “anywhere”, according to the company. The site was the first theater in Jacksonville with central air conditioning.

Its then-modern systems also included central heating, central vacuuming, and a nursery. The décor included French, Spanish, and Italian motifs and furnishings in a luxurious style.

It had wrought iron railings, marble and decorative tile wainscoting, decorative columns and moldings, terrazzo and tile floors, wrought iron and amber glass light fixtures and chandeliers, and coffered ceilings.

The terra cotta ornamentation on the exterior, the glass and copper entrance doors, the wall hangings woven in France and Italy, and the furniture obtained from collectors in Morocco all evoked the Mediterranean region and style.

The theater’s Act Curtain was the finest manufactured. Its design and fabric were from France, taking nine months to make and deliver. The fringe, at 36 inches high, was the largest ever attempted.

The theater opened on April 8, 1927. It showed silent films with live orchestras accompanying them. Admission ran from 25 to 60 cents.

The Great Depression brought several temporary closures of the theater, but staff came up with programs like Screeno bingo to keep it afloat.

On August 10-11, 1956, Elvis Presley played six shows. Jacksonville Judge Marion Gooding famously met with him in advance over "obscene" moves, as documented by Life magazine.

Judge Gooding prepared several arrest warrants in advance to have on hand if Elvis’s movements were too suggestive. The judge allowed his daughters to attend the concert, though.

Police watched Elvis from the orchestra pit during the concerts. All the seats were sold out. A month later, Elvis was on the Ed Sullivan Show for his iconic first appearance.

In the late 1960s, ABC Florida State Theatres took over, then Plitt Southern Theatres owned it until 1981 when the nonprofit Arts Assembly of Jacksonville bought it for $1 million.

The building was closed on May 8, 1980 for restoration, which cost $5 million. Walter Taylor of KBJ Architects, and Herschel Shepard of Shepard Associates Architects and Planners, both of Jacksonville, were chosen to steer the project.

The selection of KBJ was exciting because the original 1920’s firm of architect Roy Benjamin had evolved into KBJ over the years. Talk about continuity of care!

Renovations included the restoration of the original balcony seats and replacement of the rocking chair seats installed in the orchestra in the late 60’s or early ’70s.

A wall was added at the rear of the orchestra seating section, which had been open to the rest of the lobby as customary in the 1920s.

The concession stand and the current marquee, both dating from the 1950s, were retained. Many of the theater’s other features required minimal reconstruction.

A significant amount of the building’s original equipment, features and fixtures remain intact and in use today. On December 28, 1982, the building was officially accepted onto the National Register of Historic Places.

It reopened on October 1, 1983, and has been running strong ever since. Ghosts allegedly haunt the old projector room and the balcony, and staff report lights flicking on and off.

In 2010 the TV show Local Haunts did a paranormal investigation of the theater and caught video images of a ghostly apparition sitting in the balcony seats. Be on the lookout during your visit!

The Florida Theatre is at 128 East Forsyth Street, Jacksonville, Florida, 32202 near the Duval County Courthouse. Reach it via I-95, exit 363A to Adams Street.

The box office is open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. On weekends, the box office opens two hours before matinees and four hours before evening shows. Doors open one hour prior.

Parking is available in garages one block away. Street parking is free after 6 p.m. and on weekends. Over 1,600 spaces surround the site. Accessible parking is available on nearby streets.

The elevators reach all levels of the theater. You can request assisted listening devices at the box office. Download seating charts from their website.

There are many downtown eateries within walking distance for pre- or post-show fun.

FLORIDA THEATRE WEBSITE

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