Beach Theatre
315 Corey Avenue,
St. Petersburg Beach,
FL
33706
315 Corey Avenue,
St. Petersburg Beach,
FL
33706
8 people
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Hello all, I work for the Beach Theatre (on their website) and just found this website and entry for the theatre. In reading the earlier comments, there seems to be some confusion about the original opening date for the theatre. Those who’ve said we opened on 1/15/1940 are correct. We still have a grand opening Playbill framed in our theatre from that event that anyone can see as they enter the lobby. I don’t know why there isn’t an ad in the paper on that day. I looked at the March 1946 newspaper “opening” ad and that must refer to the RE-opening of the theatre. As it states on our history page, during WWII a German U-boat was spotted off the coast of FL, so a blackout was ordered of all businesses along the coast that lasted 18 months. 1946 was after the war ended, so it seems that we’d reopen around that time.
Scott, that theater was probably the Dolphin Plaza Twin. It was in a shopping center with a Publix and a TG&Y. It has been added to the database since you left your comment.
Photos of the Beach Theatre courtesy ferret1111.
View link
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We visited here yesterday and this is the kind of independent local theater we need to support. Paid $5.00 matinee admission (“up In the Air” and $4.00 concession – now that’s refreshing – for popcorn and soda. I spoke with one of the employees who told me that 3 folks worked there and the two I met were very cordial – also refreshing. Among the on-screen ads were a 1940 photo of the theater and the opening Window Card from “Dust Be My Destiny”. Screenwriter and local native Michael France (“Fantastic Four”, “Hulk”…) purchased the theater in 2007. They do a free Saturday morning screening (yesterday was a Japanese sci-fi flic) and a troupe accompanies “The Rocky Horror Picture SHow' on Saturday evenings. Check it out when you are in the area.
Could anyone help me solve a mystery? I have a distinct memory of going to St. Petersburg Beach with my family in 1970 when I was about 16. I walked about a half hour from our hotel on the beach to a movie theatre to see a re-release of Ben-Hur. Perhaps it was this one, but it looks a bit far from where I think we stayed. Was there another movie theatre near the beach in those days? Thanks!
This is a nice 2009 photo.
Okay. I’ll save a copy too.
I am indeed. Quaker education, in fact.
“This photo may only be saved by friends” Are you a friend?
Here is a 2004 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/6m35du
So the correct opening year is 1940 and not 1946.
Here is another article about the opening. The architect is noted as M. Winfield Lott.
http://tinyurl.com/6nw7uh
Maybe the theater website is wrong about the opening date.
the beach website has an opening date of January 15th, 1940
http://www.beachtheatre.com/history.html but no ad appered in the newspapers until 1946. The movie page for January 15th, 1940 can be found at View link
Lost Memory, the Beach opened on March 3rd, 1946 and an ad can be found at
View link
This is an August 2008 photo.
A July 2008 photo can be seen here.
I don’t see this theater listed on LoopNet anymore. Here is a 2007 article about the Beach Theater. The article mentions that this theater has a new owner.
IS THIS STILL FOR SALE???
This is a 2008 photo of the Beach Theater.
For sale for $875,000 http://listing.loopnet.com/14961860
For years, the Beach Theater was pretty much an oasis in a multiplex desert. A nice small theater that for the longest time was one of the few (let’s not forget the Tampa Theater) venues in this area to show independent and foreign films. Today, some multiplex’s in the area are actually showing films that at one time would only have been available for showing at the Beach Theater. While this is a good thing, let’s remember we still need to support small independent theaters like the Beach, otherwise they will totally disappear.
Original comment should read “western”. My apologies. It is easy to forget that Florida has two coasts.