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Sun-Ray Cinema

Sun-Ray Cinema
1927-1982 Riverside Theater
1984-1991 River City Playhouse
1991-2004 Club 5 Nightclub
2008-2011 5 Points Theatre
2011-present Sun-Ray Cinema at 5 Points
Sun-RayCinemaLogo.png
Sun-Ray Cinema is located in Central Jacksonville
Sun-Ray Cinema
Sun-Ray Cinema
Address 1028 Park Street
Jacksonville, Florida
United States
Owner Mike Shad (building)
Tim Massett (theater)
Operator Tim Massett
Capacity 200
Current use Movie theater
Construction
Opened March 1, 1927; 90 years ago (1927-03-01)
Rebuilt 2004-2008 historic restoration
Architect Roy Benjamin
Website
Sun Ray Cinema

The Sun-Ray Cinema at 5 Points, formerly known as Riverside Theater and 5 Points Theatre, is a historic two-screen movie theater in Jacksonville, Florida. The first theater in Florida equipped to show talking pictures, it opened in March 1927 in the Five Points district of the Riverside and Avondale neighborhood.

The Riverside Theater opened in March 1927, when the Five Points area was emerging as a commercial center for Riverside and Avondale. It was the first in the state, and third in the country, equipped to show talking pictures. The architect was Roy Benjamin, whose architectural firm eventually became KBJ Architects. The theater is part of a much larger Italian Renaissance revival building. Benjamin went on to design more than 200 theaters throughout Florida and the southeastern United States, including Downtown Jacksonville's Florida Theatre. The first "talkie" shown in the theater was Don Juan, starring John Barrymore and Mary Astor. Admission was $1.10, an expensive ticket considering the prevailing wage was less than a quarter per hour.

The building was remodeled in 1949 and renamed the Five Points Theater when the marquee was added, which remains to this day. In 1977 the theater closed for several years and an attempt was made to "modernize" the building in 1978 with the application of stucco. In the early 1980s the movie theater shut down, and the acting group River City Playhouse moved into the space in 1984. In 1991 the building was remodeled into a nightclub, Club 5, which closed in 2004.


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Wikipedia

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