The Polk Theatre in
Lakeland, Florida is a historic
theater located at 121 South
Florida Avenue.
The 1,400-seat theatre was built in 1928 after the local business "boom" of the town had ended and despite the fact that the population was only 15,000 inhabitants. In 1982, a group of concerned people banded together to save the theatre from being
razed due to low attendance. Local citizens formed a non-profit group, borrowed money, secured a grant from the state, and purchased the theatre for $300,000. The theatre has a
mezzanine
A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...
, a high
balcony, a permanent backdrop of a "
Venetian
Venetian often means from or related to:
* Venice, a city in Italy
* Veneto, a region of Italy
* Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area
Venetian and the like may also refer to:
* Venetian language, a Romance language s ...
piazza," an
orchestra pit, a ceiling against which images of twinkling stars are projected, and
terrazzo flooring. The air-conditioning system, which was the first in the county, was a pump that used
artesian well water
An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...
to chill the building.
Under the name Polk Theatre and Office Building, the building was added to the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
[
]
Image gallery
File:Polk Theatre Lakeland2.jpg, Polk Theatre as viewed from the sidewalk, October 2006.
File:Polk Theatre Lakeland.jpg, Polk Theatre as viewed from the street, October 2006 (landscape).
File:Polk Theatre Lakeland3.jpg, Polk Theatre as viewed from the street, October 2006 (portrait).
File:Polk Theatre, Lakeland, Florida, Jun 2019.jpg, Polk Theatre as viewed from the street, June 2019.
See also
* Movie palaces list
References
Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
*
Polk County listings
*
Polk Theatre and Office Building
a
History of the Polk Theater
External links
PolkTheatre.Org
Buildings and structures in Lakeland, Florida
Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida
National Register of Historic Places in Polk County, Florida
Renaissance Revival architecture in Florida
Theatres completed in 1927
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