The Florida Theatre set to open back up to the public in October

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — After a months-long intermission, the Florida Theatre is about to start its next act. Action News Jax has been following the theatre’s renovation project since it closed back in July.

Part of a new look for a near-100-year-old Florida Theatre.

“We are restoring all the bathrooms, repainting the entire interior, and replacing our entire ventilation system, which is more than 40 years old,” said Numa Saisselin, president of the Florida Theatre.

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There’s no audience right now, just the multi-million dollar renovation project taking center stage. Saisselin hopes that adding these touch-ups to the theatre will keep doors open for another 50 years.

“Once we’re done with this round, there’s still another 7 or 8 million dollars of work to get the building to where it needs to be,” said Saisselin.

The new improvements are missing an old-fashioned flare as some centennial souvenirs are still finding their way home.

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“I bet a lot of people have never noticed there were four tapestries hanging on the wall of the balcony, because they were dirty and faded and worn out after 96 years of hanging there,” said Saisselin.

Action News Jax told you last month when the theatre’s 96-year-old tapestry went missing in the mail.

Saisselin says it was lost through FedEx while on its way back from New York City, until a familiar face stepped into the spotlight. “The hero of this story is Ben Becker.”

The theatre credits Action News Jax Ben Becker for finding the lost art, after he sent an email to FedEx asking for answers on where the tapestry was. Saisselin says he got a call from FedEx promising to find it.

Saisselin stated, “It was sitting in a distribution center in Charlotte, and, just as we had suspected, the shipping labels fell off.”

Now the theatre’s hoping to go from delivery drama, to delivering a drama.

“I think people are going to walk in and think ‘wow! this place looks great! and, now, it’s becoming the first-class venue it used to be.”

The theatre is expected to reopen on October 28.

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