Tybee Post Theater is a

movie theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

located on

Tybee Island Tybee Island is a city and a barrier island located in Chatham County, Georgia, 18 miles (29 km) east of Savannah, United States. Though the name "Tybee Island" is used for both the island and the city, geographically they are not identical ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was constructed in 1930 by the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

for the local fort Fort Screven. Following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was abandoned by the military. After laying dormant for 40 years, the Friends of Tybee Theatre revitalized it and it continues to be used today. The Tybee Post Theater is one of the few building used by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during its operation of Fort Screven to be accessible by the public.

History

The Post Theatre was one of the first theaters in Georgia to have sound features (called “talkies”) and was the highlight of

recreational activities Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasur ...

for the local Fort Screven. Because the theater was built by the Army, the

blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

s for the theater were one of several standardized designs. The Post Theater has a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style facade and is similar in design to theaters at

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

, Georgia and Fort Hancock, New Jersey. The interior was originally

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

. After Fort Screven was decommissioned, the Post Theater was sold to private owners and became the Beach Theater. From the 1940s through the 1960s locals and

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

alike enjoyed movies at the Beach. At the end of the sixties the theatre was discarded and closed. For a brief time it served as a sail loft and was later gutted in anticipation of development into condominiums. The building then stood vacant and open to the elements for over 20 years. In 2006 the theater was purchased by the Friends of the Tybee Theater, a 501 C-3 non-profit corporation staffed by many volunteers and a few paid staffers.

Restoration

Through a combination of private and government funds, a restoration plan has been completed. Phase 1 of restoration, a new roof and securing of the building, was accomplished in 2009. The Tybee Post Theater was the first Georgia project to receive a grant funded by specialized license plates. The $20,000 so garnered was applied to replacing the theater's doors and windows. The now named Tybee Post Theater is becoming the cultural arts center for Tybee Island and the surrounding community featuring all types of

live entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

activities.

References

External links

Web Site for the Tybee Post Theater
{{Coord, 32.01498, -80.84287, type:landmark_region:US-GA, display=title Cinemas and movie theaters in Georgia (U.S. state)