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 Arcade Theatre in 1915
D-6 Architect Roy A. Benjamin designed
nearly two
hundred movie theatres during his career. The Arcade Theatre was one of
the earliest. Opened July 18, 1915, it was proclaimed by its
owners
to be the largest and best equipped movie house in the South, with
1,250
seats, a balcony, six ceiling fans eight-feet in diameter, a ladies'
parlor,
and a special children's section "to appeal to mothers who may wish to
send their children to the theatre in the care of a maid." The
multi-purpose
building had an entrance through an arcade of shops that led from the
Bisbee
Building on Forsyth Street, and also had shops along the Adams Street
facade,
with several apartments on the upper floor. In the 1930's the
ornate
facade was renovated to reflect the Art Deco style, which was in
vogue with movie houses of the day. Panels of rich geometrical
bas-relief
festoon the upper part of the entrance pavilion. In recent years,
some of the Art Deco facade was lost to remodeling, and the name was
changed
to the Center. The Florida Theatre
and
the Center Theatre are the last of over a dozen movie palaces that once
served Downtown.
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Exceprts
of this work may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes
with credit to Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage by Wayne W. Wood. All Rights Reserved, Wayne W. Wood and Ó University Presses of Florida. |
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