Found in my wall -- Movieland; Forsyth & Ocean

[blfair]

Ripping down some drywall to redo a shower in my 1930's bungalow in San Marco... found this in the form of scraps of paper. Here's a bigger version if you want to take a closer look.

[lukeowens]

Hmmm, somewhere around here. 1 out of 4 corners to choose from. I don't think Azucena Deli, that building I know was there before the Great Fire and don't think was ever tall enough to me a theater.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/US-90+%26+E+Forsyth+St+%26+State+Rte+228,+Jacksonville,+FL+32202/@30.3267094,-81.6565413,3a,75y,331.24h,89.89t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ssuftOMioy_njQ3a84dfT9A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DsuftOMioy_njQ3a84dfT9A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.TACTILE.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D86%26h%3D86%26yaw%3D22.118038%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x88e5b719bbc6721d:0x17d31f308d2e2c4a!8m2!3d30.3267379!4d-81.6565279!6m1!1e1

[thelakelander]

That was back when Forsyth was a theatre district. Excluding the Florida Theatre, the rest have been demolished and largely replaced with parking garages and lots.

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-sep-lost-jacksonville-the-theater-district



Then


Now

[JaxJersey-licious]

As sad as it is to see what Jacksonville and other cities have done with their old theater areas, wasn't one argument for their re-adaptation was that a lot of these areas would become their city's red-light district in the 60's-80's? These older places were too small to show the latest feature films  and couldn't compete with their newer, bigger rivals and had little choice to showing  kung-fu movies or porn. I'm glad there is more emphasis in creative re-use for many of these old places but I still see quite a number of these old places that haven't been torn down here in Jersey unutilized or abandoned.

[Tacachale]

As sad as it is to see what Jacksonville and other cities have done with their old theater areas, wasn't one argument for their re-adaptation was that a lot of these areas would become their city's red-light district in the 60's-80's? These older places were too small to show the latest feature films  and couldn't compete with their newer, bigger rivals and had little choice to showing  kung-fu movies or porn. I'm glad there is more emphasis in creative re-use for many of these old places but I still see quite a number of these old places that haven't been torn down here in Jersey unutilized or abandoned.

I could be wrong, but don't think any theaters in Jax were torn down out of fear of what they'd become. They mostly went out of business as the industry changed (only San Marco Theater managed to stay open out of all the historic theaters), and mostly they were either demolished later to be replaced with something, or destroyed by happenstance. I'm sure Lake's article touches on it, but in true Jax fashion some of the theaters, like other downtown buildings, were demolished for projects that never happened, though one famous one was located where the Jax Bank Building is now. Two of them, the Florida Theater and the Ritz Theater, were saved and adapted for other things, and of course Sun-Ray Cinema was restored to being a theater 13 years ago.

[thelakelander]

Yeah, I'm not sure any were torn down due to a fear of them showing porn. In fact, many did show porn and kung-fu movies before ultimately closing.  As Tacachale said, most were demolished for other things. For example, the block on Forsyth between Main and Ocean, was largely demolished for a new JEA headquarters that was never built. Once the JEA building failed to materialized, the metal parking deck that remains today, was built on it.  Another example, was the Arcade Theatre on Adams Street. It largely collapsed on its own.

[JaxJersey-licious]

As sad as it is to see what Jacksonville and other cities have done with their old theater areas, wasn't one argument for their re-adaptation was that a lot of these areas would become their city's red-light district in the 60's-80's? These older places were too small to show the latest feature films  and couldn't compete with their newer, bigger rivals and had little choice to showing  kung-fu movies or porn. I'm glad there is more emphasis in creative re-use for many of these old places but I still see quite a number of these old places that haven't been torn down here in Jersey unutilized or abandoned.

I could be wrong, but don't think any theaters in Jax were torn down out of fear of what they'd become. They mostly went out of business as the industry changed (only San Marco Theater managed to stay open out of all the historic theaters), and mostly they were either demolished later to be replaced with something, or destroyed by happenstance. I'm sure Lake's article touches on it, but in true Jax fashion some of the theaters, like other downtown buildings, were demolished for projects that never happened, though one famous one was located where the Jax Bank Building is now. Two of them, the Florida Theater and the Ritz Theater, were saved and adapted for other things, and of course Sun-Ray Cinema was restored to being a theater 13 years ago.

Yeah, I'm not sure any were torn down due to a fear of them showing porn. In fact, many did show porn and kung-fu movies before ultimately closing.  As Tacachale said, most were demolished for other things. For example, the block on Forsyth between Main and Ocean, was largely demolished for a new JEA headquarters that was never built. Once the JEA building failed to materialized, the metal parking deck that remains today, was built on it.  Another example, was the Arcade Theatre on Adams Street. It largely collapsed on its own.

Thanks for the historical footnotes as these articles made me curious how these old movie palaces met their demise. In my younger days I remember going with friends to these big city districts with theaters that showed porn or burlesque shows but older locals would always reminisce about the blockbusters they would see as kids in these now-seedy joints and how it used to be so family friendly way back when, etc. Then I think about all the demolitions that happened in La Villa where the argument was made that blight removal was the key to attracting new development and to this day so little to show for it, though that's slowly changing.

I'm just glad that the best of these palaces like the Ritz, Florida, and Tampa theaters among a few others have been shown so much love and continues to contribute to these communities.