The Sun-Ray Cinema at 5 Points, formerly known as Riverside Theater and 5 Points Theatre, is a historic two-screen

movie theater 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 ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

.
Waymarking, Five Points Theater, Jacksonville The first theater in Florida equipped to show

talking pictures A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

, it opened in March 1927 in the Five Points district of the

Riverside and Avondale Riverside and Avondale are two adjacent and closely associated neighborhoods, alternatively considered one continuous neighborhood, of Jacksonville, Florida. The area is primarily residential, but includes some commercial districts, including Fi ...

neighborhood.

History

The Riverside Theater opened in March 1927, when the Five Points area was emerging as a commercial center for

. It was the first in the state, and third in the country, equipped to show

. The architect was Roy Benjamin, whose architectural firm eventually became

KBJ Architects KBJ Architects, Inc. (KBJ) is an American architectural firm based in Jacksonville, Florida. The firm designed 17 of the city's 30 tallest buildings and "created Jacksonville's modern skyline", according to ''The Florida Times-Union'' newspaper.Ker ...

. The theater is part of a much larger

Italian Renaissance revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ...

building. Benjamin went on to design more than 200 theaters throughout Florida and the southeastern United States, including

Downtown Jacksonville Downtown Jacksonville is the historic core and central business district (CBD) of Jacksonville, Florida USA. It comprises the earliest area of the city to be developed and is located in its geographic center along the narrowing point of the St. Jo ...

Florida Theatre The Florida Theatre is a historic American movie theater located in Jacksonville, Florida. Opened in April 1927, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on November 4, 1982. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter plac ...

."Five Points Theater"
Cinema Treasures The first "talkie" shown in the theater was ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni (Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, '' El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...

'', starring

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

and

Mary Astor Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Although her career spanned several decades, she may be best remembered for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in '' The Maltese ...

. Admission was $1.10, an expensive ticket considering the

prevailing wage In United States government contracting, a prevailing wage is defined as the hourly wage, usual benefits and overtime, paid to the majority of workers, laborers, and mechanics within a particular area. This is usually the union wage. Prevailing ...

was less than a quarter per hour. The building was remodeled in 1949 and renamed the Five Points Theater when the marquee was added, which remains to this day. In 1977 the theater closed for several years and an attempt was made to "modernize" the building in 1978 with the application of stucco. In the early 1980s the movie theater shut down, and the acting group River City Playhouse moved into the space in 1984. In 1991 the building was remodeled into a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

, Club 5, which closed in 2004.Soergel, Matt (October 18, 2011
"Renovation of Jacksonville's 5 Points Theatre could be ready by Dec. 1"
''

The Florida Times-Union ''The Florida Times-Union'' is a daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the ''Florida Union'' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when th ...

''. Retrieved December 6, 2011. Sun-Ray Cinema

A four-year, $4.5 million historic restoration was begun in 2004 after local car dealer Mike Shad purchased the property. Midway through the renovations, the facility was opened for private events like reunions and wedding receptions, but work was not completed until 2008. The renamed 5 Points Theatre and Historic Event Facility now offers 14 loft condominiums on the third and fourth floors, commercial/office space on the second level and retail space on the ground floor, in addition to the theater.Khairullah, Natasha
"Five Points Theatre packs Park Street"
Jacksonville Daily Record, June 26, 2007 Although the marquee was not original, it was also restored because it is considered a historic component.Davis, Ennis
"Inside The Five Points Theatre"
Metro Jacksonville, October 30, 2008 In 2010 the Theatre shifted to an "art house" format, with foreign, independent and classic films, late night movies, and special events and concerts. The Theatre was a venue for the 2009 and 2010

Jacksonville Film Festival The Jacksonville Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Jacksonville, Florida. Founded in 2002, the festival screens in competition and out-of-competition American and international independent films. According to the '' Daily Record'', ...

s, the 2009 and 2010 Citrus Cel Animation Festival, and has hosted its own Horror Film Festival as well. In 2014, it served as screening home for the Jacksonville edition of the

48 Hour Film Project The 48 Hour Film Project is an annual film competition in which teams of filmmakers are assigned a genre, a character, a prop, and a line of dialogue, and have 48 hours to create a short film containing those elements. The competition has been ac ...

Present day

During 2011, co-owners Tim Massett and his wife Shana David-Massett raised funds to take over and refresh the venue. Massett, a Jacksonville native who managed a movie theater in Minnesota, raised $102,450 via online

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...

and private loans. Their improvements include a larger screen, sound dampening, and tiered theater seats. The venue was renamed the Sun-Ray Cinema at 5 Points, and re-opened in December 2011. The show schedule features new releases, lesser-known movies and

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...

s. In addition to traditional movie fare plus beer and wine, they also serve sandwiches,

hummus Hummus (, ; ar, حُمُّص, 'chickpeas'; full Arabic name: ''ḥummuṣ bi-ṭ-ṭaḥīna'' ar, حمص بالطحينة, 'chickpeas with tahini'), also spelled hommus or houmous, is a Middle Eastern dip, spread, or savory dish made fr ...

, site-made pizza with unusual toppings (such as

kimchi ''Kimchi'' (; ko, 김치, gimchi, ), is a traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including ''gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), sprin ...

sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferme ...

and

sriracha sauce Sriracha ( or ; th, ศรีราชา, ) is a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. Use In Thailand, sriracha is frequently used as a dipping sauce, particular ...

) and baked goods. The theatre expanded its capacity, adding a second auditorium in 2014. In 2016,

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

ranked Sun-Ray Cinema as the number one theater for people who do not eat animal products, since the menu includes multiple vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options. Jacksonville's Sun-Ray Cinema Nationally Recognized For Vegan Eats
WJCT, January 22, 2016.

References

External links

* {{coord, 30, 18, 52, N, 81, 40, 50, W, display=title, source:dewiki History of Jacksonville, Florida Cinemas and movie theaters in Florida Movie palaces Theatres in Jacksonville, Florida Theatres completed in 1927 1927 establishments in Florida