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Longtime Jacksonville staple Sun-Ray Cinema theater moving to Tampa

The historic theater says its "new home" in Tampa will have ten screens "with a massive 4,000 sq ft kitchen."

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After closing its doors in July, the historic Sun-Ray Cinema theater that stood in Jacksonville's Five Points area for nearly 100 years has found a new home.

In an Instagram post made Thursday morning, Sun-Ray announced it will move to a new location in Tampa where there will be ten screens "with a massive 4,000 sq ft kitchen." This comes after going through possibilities of staying in the River City.

"We hope to turn it around by Thanksgiving and renovate as we operate but definitely will be open by 12/11 just in time for Jozef Van Wissem to perform a score to Murnau’s Nosferatu two weeks before Eggers’ new version opens on Christmas Day," the theater said in the post.

The theater also said in its post that it will be transforming its lobby "into a version of Pee Wee's Playhouse." However, the theater did not mention where in Tampa it will be located.

What happened to Sun-Ray in Jacksonville?

In April, the owner of the Five Points Theater Building in Jacksonville, 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."

Then in May, the new owner of the building, Union South Partners, "a developer of multiple adaptive reuse projects throughout the Southeast," said the lease for Sun-Ray Cinema had expired and would 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."

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