JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The last day to catch a movie at the historic Sun-Ray Cinema theatre in Jacksonville's Five Points area will be Saturday, marking an end to the nearly 100 years the theater has stood.
On Saturday, there will be two movies showing: 'Thelma' at 4:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and 'THE END IS NIGH! Doggiewooggiez! Poochiewoochiez!' at 7 p.m.
In April, the owner of the Five Points Theater Building, Jack Shad, said he is selling it.
Shad said after almost 20 years of ownership, it was time to sell the building to a new owner. He provided First Coast News the following statement:
"Our family bought the 5 Points Theatre Building in 2004 and did a complete historic rehabilitation to return this beautiful building to its original appearance. We've provided a home for dozens of small businesses. After almost 20 years, it is time for us to sell the building to a new owner who can maintain that legacy. After a long search, we have found a buyer with experience managing other historic properties throughout the southeast."
The new owner of the building, Union South Partners, "a developer of multiple adaptive reuse projects throughout the Southeast," said in May that the lease for Sun-Ray Cinema has expired and will not be renewed.
Union South Partners' Chief Financial Advisor Andrew Seng said operating a two-screen cinema "simply isn’t financially sustainable in today’s environment."
The Georgia-based developer also said they intend to invest "significant capital" into the theater space to enhance and improve it as a destination for entertainment.
"Union South Partners is currently in active discussion with multiple entertainment operators that could activate the renewed space and enhance the Five Points community," the developer said in a release. "Our goals are to embrace these properties' historic connections while bringing new investment and ideas to reinvigorate these structures."
'We are definitely in need of a bigger theater'
On Tuesday, Sun-Ray Cinema - the first theater in Jacksonville to play movies with sound, said on Facebook that "we are definitely in need of a bigger theater."
In their post, the theater mentions a possible move downtown.
"That new spot next to the stadium perhaps? We'd love to have a five screen downtown," the post states. "It's just what downtown jax needs. A shiny new five screen Sun-Ray...phew..would be lovely."
Other locations in the realm of possibility for the theater's relocation, according to Sun-Ray Cinema's response to comments in the post, include:
- 4399 Roosevelt Blvd. in Jacksonville (former location of Stein Mart)
- 4300 St. Johns Ave. in Jacksonville
- 500 Atlantic Blvd. in Neptune Beach (former location of K-Mart)
- Jacksonville's Murray Hill area
- Jacksonville's Brooklyn area
"Yeah, I've had some communications with DIA (Downtown Investment Authority) over the years about theater ideas for Downtown or the Southbank but nothing ever took root," Sun-Ray Cinema said in a response to a user's comment on the post. "We did have a pretty positive meeting with Mark Lamping and Paul Hardin years ago when they were working on that Shipyards development that never happened so was thinking since they are resurrecting some of that idea in the area they might be keen."
Although closure of the theater means memories can no longer be made at the iconic location, they can however be made in Daytona Beach in the meantime, as the theater plans to expand and open a new location there at some point this year, according to its website.
