Imperial Theater

New photo in photo section: In 1941, the Imperial Theatre on Forsyth Street opened in 1911, according to Florida Times-Union archives. “No money will be spared to make our theater the acme of perfection,” said general manager N.W. Redmond at the time. “Our aim is to entertain the public with the very best moving pictures, music and singing. The pictures will be CAREFULLY SELECTED and none but the VERY BEST comedy, drama, educational and spectacular subjects will be exhibited.” It has since been torn down. [State Archives of Florida]

Another item about the 1911 Imperial has surfaced, this one in the May 27 issue of The New York Clipper. It says that the 800-seat house opened on May 20, and was located on Forsyth Street just off of Main. That very well might have been the later Imperial, with a different front, which the item describes as having an entrance like “…a monster sea shell… brilliantly illuminated with several hundred electric lights.” It sounds like a rather typical triumphal arch entrance of the early 1910s, which would have been looking very old-fashioned even before the end of the decade, triggering a remodeling in a more sedate style.

We know the 1911 Imperial couldn’t have been any of the other theaters on Forsyth just off Main (Grand, which already existed, Palace, which wasn’t built yet, or Empress, which was too small) so it must have been the origin of the later Imperial.

Two theatres for one parking garage is not a good trade off!

From the late 1930s a postcard view of Forsyth Street along with the Imperial and Palace Theatres in Jacksonville.

There was always a double feature. Alot of Cowboys (Gene Autry, Roy Rogers). It was owned by the Florida State Theatres (which used to be Publix / Paramount) which also owned theFLORIDA,PALACE,ARCADE,IMPERIAL,CAPITOL, BRENTWOOD,EMPRESS and I think the FAIRFAX, also the SAN MARCO and the EDGEWOOD — all In Jacksonville

The information above that the Imperial closed and was torn down in the 1950’s is incorrect. It was still going strong during the ‘60’s as a 2nd run movie house. When I was in junior high school I often went downtown with my best friend to this theatre for horror movie double bills. The Empress theatre was right next door, a smaller theatre with similar bills. I remember seeing many of the Roger Cormon Edgar Allen Poe movies at the Imperial (Fall of the House of Usher, etc). It was not a movie palace like the Florida Theatre a couple of blocks away, but it still had vintage theatre charm from the pre-mall, pre-multi-plex days. Both the Imperial and Empress were still operating when I went away to college in the fall of 1969 and they continued to show movies for at least four or five years after that. As I moved to another part of the state after graduating, I lost track of such things, so I can’t say just when they shut down and were razed.