Florida Theatre
The Florida Theatre is a Mediterranean Revival structure designed by the renowned theatre architects R.E. Hall of New York and Roy Benjamin of Jacksonville. The interior design of the theatre spaces was greatly influenced by the “atmospheric” theatre aesthetics pioneered by architect John Eberson, who stated at the opening of the Tampa Theatre in 1926 that his defining style originated in Florida. A hallmark of painted decoration in atmospheric theatres is the use of bright, primary colors applied using dry brush techniques to textured and ornamental surfaces. R.E. Hall employed this aesthetic simultaneously at the Florida Theatre and the Carolina Theatre in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Arts Assembly of Jacksonville purchased the theater in 1981 and restored it between 1982 and 1983. The Florida Theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December of 1982.
EverGreene was retained by KBJ – L&B Architects to investigate historic painted finishes in the Florida Theatre. The purpose of the finishes investigation was to guide future interior restoration efforts by identifying color palettes of original painted decorative schemes for the auditorium, promenade lobby, and entrance lobby.
During the Florida Theatre’s major 1980s restoration, the design team chose to tone down the original colors, moving away from the authentic 1927 palette. The original polychrome decoration was determined to have been carried out using high-quality, vibrant mineral pigments and transparent glazes applied in complex sequences to create an ornate polychrome scheme. EverGreen’s conservators created mock-ups, showing the original finishes and techniques.
EverGreene returned to the Florida Theatre to repair the flaking and peeling decorative plaster in the auditorium, paint the lobbies and the auditorium with fidelity to the 1927 color palette, and restore four historic faux tapestries. Decorative finishes included glazing of plater ornamentation, faux bois painting in the main lobby, and stenciling on the mezzanine ceiling beams.
The four balcony tapestries were original to the Florida Theatre. The turn-of-the-century wall-hangings depicted scenes inspired by the 1500s Flemish Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, specifically “Taste,” “Smell” and “Desire” (with “Desire” appearing twice). EverGreene used high-resolution photographs of the original Florida Theatre tapestries, and the Flemish tapestries they were inspired by, to inform their recreations. The “millesfleurs” (or “thousand flower”) motifs and figures were meticulously painted onto a textured woven surface.
The Florida Theatre reopened to the public in October 2023 in preparation for the theater’s 100th birthday in 2027.
