The Hippodrome Theatre (locally known as The Hippodrome or The Hipp) is a regional professional

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually 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 perform ...

in downtown Gainesville,

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. It was founded in 1973 by local actors and was added to the

U.S. 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 territori ...

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 ...

on July 10, 1979.

History

U.S. Post Office and District Courthouse

The building itself was completed in 1911, and served as a

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

(on the first floor) and a Courthouse of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida (in case citations, N.D. Fla.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appea ...

(on the second floor).

Interior design

The present-day interior maintains much of the original walls, doors and beams from its post office and courthouse era. The Hippodrome building also has one of the oldest working elevators in Florida which requires the operator to manually close the screen, the door, and then pull a crank to operate.Alachua County Library District Heritage Collection - U.S. Post Office, Elevator, Drawing No. E. 373
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Modern renovations

In 2013, due to the imminent discontinuation of

35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on film, 35 mm is the most commonly used gauge. The name of the gauge is not a direct measurement, and refers to the nominal width o ...

, the theater used a combination of

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and a

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project to help fund its transition to digital projectors, which it estimated to cost $40,000. The theater received a series of renovations in 2020, which included

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick stew ...

improvements, better indoor and outdoor lighting, new speakers, and improved air conditioning. These renovations cost the theater over $324,000 and were partially funded by Wild Spaces & Public Places, a 2016 Alachua County tax initiate.

Operations

The Hippodrome uses professional actors and has its own set designers, costume designers, sound engineers and lighting engineers for each of its main stage productions. It also provides youth theater education classes. The Hippodrome features Broadway and off Broadway productions and art house films. The Hippodrome provides arts education for all ages, including classes & camps, in-school programs, workshops and behind-the-scenes opportunities for adults. It is a relatively small location, with a 268-seat

thrust stage In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performe ...

main stage theater on the second floor and 80-seat cinema space on the first floor.

References

External links

Hippodrome Theatre

Alachua County listings
a
Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs

a
Alachua County's Department of Growth Management
{{Greater Gainesville 1973 establishments in Florida Buildings and structures in Gainesville, Florida Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Culture of Gainesville, Florida National Register of Historic Places in Gainesville, Florida Post office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Tourist attractions in Gainesville, Florida