The opening date for this theater remains in question. I have found dates that range from 1954 to 1964. I watched ‘40 Pounds of Trouble’ at the theater on December 31, 1962. It was the opening day of this movie and was advertised as the Grand Opening of the theater. I entered the auditorium via the far left aisle and took an aisle seat about half way down. I remember the left arm rest being loose. The film was not a smash hit and possible helped to lead the film studios not to release films the week after Christmas. (Yes, December 31st. I was 16 and had no life.)
There is an entire genre of films missing from the list of films that played at the Florida. In the late ‘60’s, after the rating system came into existence (1968) the Florida Theater went through a period of showing 'X’ films. I was stationed at MacDill and saw my first (and pretty much only) X’s there. My favorite (because of how bad it was) was “Fuego”. The advertising claimed that the makers of the film had to flee their home country. Maybe they snuck out under cover of darkness because the film was so lousy.
Arthur ‘Bud’ Gross managed the Harbor Theater and oversaw the operation of the Park Theater which had its own manager. In 1965 I was the Manager of the Park. By the time the 1966 season rolled around I was about to drafted and joined the Air Force as a better option. The Park was a single screen theater with a lobby that ran the width of the theater but was only about 4 feet deep with 4 vending machines along the interior wall. If a patron wanted popcorn they had to walk down two doors to the Harbor Theater and buy it. The ‘Air Cooled’ system did not have an huge ice cube – it was a system similar to a shower where the top of the system was a pipe with holes. The water flowed past the fan and into a pan at the bottom and was then recirculated over and over again. It was a mess to clean and set up every Spring prior to opening for the season. The theater opened several weeks before Memorial Day and remained open until one or two weeks after Labor Day, depending on business. The staff pretty much consisted of around 5 people: the Manager, the cashier (Suzanne Bowman – the daughter of the cashier at the Harbor), Mark (I want to say Young), who was the Head Usher AND janitor, Charlie (projection) and a rotating usher from the Harbor. I did the rotating in 1964 before being offered the Park managerial job in ‘65. I recall Teddy Salvenson being one of those in '65. Charlie moved into the booth every Summer because his Mother used to rent out his room to tourists during the season. The booth had two rooms – the one with the 2 projectors and a smaller room by the exterior door where Charlie brought in a refrigerator and a cot every year. The only way to reach the office or the booth was via steps on the sides of the building. The office was small and dingy with a window overlooking the auditorium and a desk and chair. There was a window next to the exterior door but not much light came through it as the west side of the theater was next to Hahn’s Restaurant and that building blocked much of the Sunlight. To go from the office to the booth it was necessary to go down the steps on one side of the building, pass the front of the theater and use the steps on the other side. I don’t recall that Mr. Gross (I never called him 'Bud’) ever hired a 13 year old, although 15 is a possibility. Every Fall a huge sheet of plastic had to be hung over the screen to protect it over the Winter. The only way to do this was walk above the drop ceiling to reach the screen. At the start of the ‘65 season I fell through two of the ceiling tiles but only hurt my dignity when I straddled part of the ceiling support system. I don’t believe those two tiles were ever replaced. I let Mark finish taking down the plastic that year. For my 8 AM (opening the door for the cleaners) to midnight shift (7 days a week) I earned the massive salary of $75 per week. I was able to get the day off for my birthday. It rained that night and we were supposed to work on rainy days. At the suggestion of Miss Ferrari (the cashier at the Harbor) I went to the Wildwood boardwalk instead. Who would believe that 26 years later I would return to theater life and have been doing it ever since then?
I was an usher at both the Harbor and Park Theatres in 1964. At 50 cents an hour it was easy work. At that time seasonal businesses didn’t have to pay a minimum wage. We opened the theater for a matinee every day but if we didn’t have 6 pople in the auditorium we closed down. Fewer than 6 didn’t pay the bills. In 1965 I was made the Manager at the Park for a whopping $75 per week, working under Arthur Gross – the manager at the Harbor, which was then open year round. Both jobs were 7 days a week with a day off only if you promised to come in if it rained. As a Manager I had to be at the theater at 8 AM to let the cleaners in, and went home at midnight after walking the deposit to the bank on the corner (now a BOA). Once a week I delivered the bulletins around the island by bike – after we closed for the night. The programs were pastel 5" X 8" cards with the Harbor schedule on one side and the Park schedule on the back. Both theaters normally ran about 4-5 different films per week on the one screen. They were owned by Frank Theaters back then and have changed ownership several times since then before going back to Frank.
The opening date for this theater remains in question. I have found dates that range from 1954 to 1964. I watched ‘40 Pounds of Trouble’ at the theater on December 31, 1962. It was the opening day of this movie and was advertised as the Grand Opening of the theater. I entered the auditorium via the far left aisle and took an aisle seat about half way down. I remember the left arm rest being loose. The film was not a smash hit and possible helped to lead the film studios not to release films the week after Christmas. (Yes, December 31st. I was 16 and had no life.)
There is an entire genre of films missing from the list of films that played at the Florida. In the late ‘60’s, after the rating system came into existence (1968) the Florida Theater went through a period of showing 'X’ films. I was stationed at MacDill and saw my first (and pretty much only) X’s there. My favorite (because of how bad it was) was “Fuego”. The advertising claimed that the makers of the film had to flee their home country. Maybe they snuck out under cover of darkness because the film was so lousy.
And now they are trying to sell the Harbor for 2.5 million and the shopping center next door for 5.
Arthur ‘Bud’ Gross managed the Harbor Theater and oversaw the operation of the Park Theater which had its own manager. In 1965 I was the Manager of the Park. By the time the 1966 season rolled around I was about to drafted and joined the Air Force as a better option. The Park was a single screen theater with a lobby that ran the width of the theater but was only about 4 feet deep with 4 vending machines along the interior wall. If a patron wanted popcorn they had to walk down two doors to the Harbor Theater and buy it. The ‘Air Cooled’ system did not have an huge ice cube – it was a system similar to a shower where the top of the system was a pipe with holes. The water flowed past the fan and into a pan at the bottom and was then recirculated over and over again. It was a mess to clean and set up every Spring prior to opening for the season. The theater opened several weeks before Memorial Day and remained open until one or two weeks after Labor Day, depending on business. The staff pretty much consisted of around 5 people: the Manager, the cashier (Suzanne Bowman – the daughter of the cashier at the Harbor), Mark (I want to say Young), who was the Head Usher AND janitor, Charlie (projection) and a rotating usher from the Harbor. I did the rotating in 1964 before being offered the Park managerial job in ‘65. I recall Teddy Salvenson being one of those in '65. Charlie moved into the booth every Summer because his Mother used to rent out his room to tourists during the season. The booth had two rooms – the one with the 2 projectors and a smaller room by the exterior door where Charlie brought in a refrigerator and a cot every year. The only way to reach the office or the booth was via steps on the sides of the building. The office was small and dingy with a window overlooking the auditorium and a desk and chair. There was a window next to the exterior door but not much light came through it as the west side of the theater was next to Hahn’s Restaurant and that building blocked much of the Sunlight. To go from the office to the booth it was necessary to go down the steps on one side of the building, pass the front of the theater and use the steps on the other side. I don’t recall that Mr. Gross (I never called him 'Bud’) ever hired a 13 year old, although 15 is a possibility. Every Fall a huge sheet of plastic had to be hung over the screen to protect it over the Winter. The only way to do this was walk above the drop ceiling to reach the screen. At the start of the ‘65 season I fell through two of the ceiling tiles but only hurt my dignity when I straddled part of the ceiling support system. I don’t believe those two tiles were ever replaced. I let Mark finish taking down the plastic that year. For my 8 AM (opening the door for the cleaners) to midnight shift (7 days a week) I earned the massive salary of $75 per week. I was able to get the day off for my birthday. It rained that night and we were supposed to work on rainy days. At the suggestion of Miss Ferrari (the cashier at the Harbor) I went to the Wildwood boardwalk instead. Who would believe that 26 years later I would return to theater life and have been doing it ever since then?
I was an usher at both the Harbor and Park Theatres in 1964. At 50 cents an hour it was easy work. At that time seasonal businesses didn’t have to pay a minimum wage. We opened the theater for a matinee every day but if we didn’t have 6 pople in the auditorium we closed down. Fewer than 6 didn’t pay the bills. In 1965 I was made the Manager at the Park for a whopping $75 per week, working under Arthur Gross – the manager at the Harbor, which was then open year round. Both jobs were 7 days a week with a day off only if you promised to come in if it rained. As a Manager I had to be at the theater at 8 AM to let the cleaners in, and went home at midnight after walking the deposit to the bank on the corner (now a BOA). Once a week I delivered the bulletins around the island by bike – after we closed for the night. The programs were pastel 5" X 8" cards with the Harbor schedule on one side and the Park schedule on the back. Both theaters normally ran about 4-5 different films per week on the one screen. They were owned by Frank Theaters back then and have changed ownership several times since then before going back to Frank.