Dixie Theatre - Apalachicola, Florida, USA.
N 29° 43.690 W 084° 59.069
16R E 694940 N 3290365
Opened in 1913 as a silver screen movie theatre, & venue for theatrical productions. It's last performance was in 1967. Refurbished & reopened in 1998 as a community theatre. Located in Apalachicola the heart of the forgotten Northern Florida Coast.
Waymark Code: WMXF5A
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 01/05/2018
Views: 3
"The Dixie Theater was opened on April 1913, by Alex Fortunas. The two-story brick structure featured a screen for showing movies and a stage for live performances.
The Dixie served as Apalachicola’s premiere entertainment venue for many years. In the 1950s a drive-in theater opened west of town. That and competition from television lead to the demise of the Dixie. It shut its doors in 1967.
For the next thirty years the Dixie sat empty and deteriorating. In the late 1990s Rex and Cleo Partington saw the old theater. Since their daughter was named Dixie, they took the name as a good omen and purchased the building. They had to completely reconstruct the building. The Dixie reopened on July 31, 1998."
"The Dixie Theatre, described by the Apalachicola Times as “one of the prettiest in the state,” was a modern marvel with an aluminum and silver curtain to act as a movie screen and a proscenium stage for live performances. A projection booth at the front of the balcony was furnished with a Powers Cameragraph, an early 35 mm projector. There was an orchestra pit in front of the stage.
There were two 16'x16' shops flanking the ticket office. To the left was a barbershop leased by Jenkins and O’Rourke and to the right a cigar and candy stand owned by W.G. Sharit that provided snacks for theatergoers.
The theatre had electric lights. The front of the building displayed 15 large white lights and 100 colored light bulbs. Inside strings of lights served the seating area and the stage had adjustable lighting.
Three stairways, two for white patrons and one for African Americans, provided access to the audience. Employees of his Fortunas seafood business were treated to free admission."
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Street Address:
21 Avenue E. Apalachicola, FL 32320