Florida Theatre

I’ve been unable to identify the original architect of the Florida Theatre, but the architect for the rebuilding after the 1960 fire was Theodore C. Poulos. It is listed among his works in his biographical entry in the 1962 AIA Architects Directory.

Here is a picture of the former Florida Theatre that I took in October 2010.

From Boxoffice magazine, April 1960:

TALLAHASSEE-The first-run, downtown Florida Theater, valued at $500,000, was completely gutted by a fire after closing the night of Friday, March 25. The cause of the blaze was not determined.

The Florida had been the favorite entertainment center for generations of lawmakers, their families and students and facult members of Florida State University in the state’s capital city. Managed for many years by Tommy Hyde, who indicated that rebuilding plans may soon be set in motion, the Florida was the flagship of Kent Theaters, owned by Fred Kent of Jacksonville.

I saw and took one slide photo of the Florida in 1981. It was closed at the time, and indeed on the marquee where in the 1940s and 60s photos it says “Theatre” in neon, it said “Circus,” which at the time baffled me.

The exterior of the theatre was pale yellow, with some other colored accents on the vertical and marquee, like red and green.

Actually, the building the Florida Theatre was in still stands. The Florida Education Association converted the theatre to an office building at least a decade or more ago. For a brief period, it was also the Florida “Circus”, utilizing acts from FSU’s circus, and it later also had a stint as a second run movie house.

Here is a 1947 view of the Florida’s beautiful Streamline style facade.