The Polk Theatre in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

is a historic

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

located at 121 South

Florida Avenue Florida Avenue is a major street in Washington, D.C. It was originally named Boundary Street, because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City under the 1791 L'Enfant Plan. With the growth of the city beyond its original borders, Bounda ...

. 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 balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony is ...

, 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 A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

," an

orchestra pit An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...

, a ceiling against which images of twinkling stars are projected, and

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...

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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

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.

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 {{US-theat-struct-stub

Image gallery

See also

References

External links