Polk Theatre (Lakeland, Florida)

Polk Theatre
	The historic Polk Theatre
Address	121 S Florida Ave,; Lakeland, Florida
Coordinates	28°02′36″N 81°57′26″W / 28.0432°N 81.9572°W
Owner	Private
Type	Atmospheric
Capacity	1,400
Current use	Performance Theatre
	Polk Theatre and Office Building
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	121 S. Florida Ave., Lakeland, Florida
Coordinates	28°2′35″N 81°57′28″W / 28.04306°N 81.95778°W
Built	1927
Architect	James E. Casale, George A. Miller
Architectural style	Italian Renaissance
NRHP reference No.	93000446
Added to NRHP	May 27, 1993
Construction
Opened	1928
Architect	J.E. Casale
Website
	http://www.polktheatre.org

The Polk Theatre in Lakeland, Florida is a historic theater located at 121 South Florida Avenue.

The 1,400-seat theatre was built in 1928 after the local business "boom" of the town had ended and despite the fact that the population was only 15,000 inhabitants. In 1982, a group of concerned people banded together to save the theatre from being razed due to low attendance. Local citizens formed a non-profit group, borrowed money, secured a grant from the state, and purchased the theatre for $300,000.^[2] The theatre has a mezzanine, a high balcony, a permanent backdrop of a "Venetian piazza," an orchestra pit, a ceiling against which images of twinkling stars are projected, and terrazzo flooring. The air-conditioning system, which was the first in the county,^{[clarification needed]} was a pump that used artesian well water to chill the building.^[3]

Under the name Polk Theatre and Office Building, the building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1993.^[1]

Image gallery

Polk Theatre as viewed from the sidewalk, October 2006.
Polk Theatre as viewed from the street, October 2006 (landscape).
Polk Theatre as viewed from the street, October 2006 (portrait).
Polk Theatre as viewed from the street, June 2019.

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
^ "Polk Theatre - History of the Theatre". Archived from the original on June 4, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
^ "Polk Theatre in Lakeland, FL". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved July 3, 2019.

External links

Media related to Polk Theatre (Lakeland, Florida) at Wikimedia Commons

PolkTheatre.Org

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[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.

[2] "Polk Theatre - History of the Theatre". Archived from the original on June 4, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.

[3] "Polk Theatre in Lakeland, FL". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved July 3, 2019.

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