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14. Reid Avenue - Port Theatre
Reid Avenue has been the commercial heart of Port St. Joe for nearly a century. Although facades and businesses have changed, the outline of the street has remained essentially the same. Unlike that of many towns, Port St. Joe’s main commercial street has not become a thoroughfare for traffic going elsewhere. Reid Avenue was named after John Robert Reid of St. Johns County, president of the 1838 Constitution Convention held in the Old City of St. Joseph. In 1913 the street was macadamized with a mixture of mud and shell dredged from the bay along the railroad pier, loaded on flat cars and carried down a track constructed for that purpose. In 1922 or 1923 the city installed electric street lights along Reid Avenue. In 1939 the avenue was resurfaced with sand, gravel and asphalt. Click on the photos below to view some earlier views of Reid Avenue
Port Theatre314 Reid Ave. (National Register)
The largest and most stylish building on Reid Avenue, the Port Theatre opened in 1938 with Gold Diggers in Paris starring Dick Powell and closed with James Bond’s Thunderball in 1967. In 1995 Wade and Paula Clark purchased the theatre, and it is currently used for auctions. The Port Theatre features Art Deco elements on its main façade. The parapet is rounded at each corner creating a large arch, and large fluted corner molding runs vertically the height of the building. The suspended metal marquee with neon letters also has rounded corners. The two sets of double doors with large half-circle glass repeat the curves of the marquee, parapet and molding.
The building has a steel framework encased in three and four layers of bricks. The roof was severely damaged by Hurricane Kate in 1985, and rains from Hurricane Opal in 1995 created one and one-half story waves within the walls, but the building didn’t budge. The Port Theatre is well known for its outstanding acoustics. A spoken voice at the south, stage end of the auditorium can be clearly heard at rear of the theatre. On December 24, 1937, The Star announced: “Work Begins on Ritz Theatre” “After considerable delay, work started this week on the new theatre building for Martin and Davis on Third Avenue adjoining the Miles Hurlbut block of buildings….The Theatre proper will be 120 by 45 feet with a 22 by 44 foot foyer extending to the sidewalk. It will contain a stage 161/2 x 35 feet, which will be large enough to accommodate large road shows. Seating capacity will be main floor 758; white balcony 132; colored balcony 134; total 1,024. Restrooms will be provided for both white and colored and a modern apartment is incorporated in the building for use of the theatre manager. The name of the new theatre will be the ‘Ritz’ in accordance with the majority of playhouses operated in the Martin and Davis chain. The front of the structure will be of the latest modernistic design and will be outlined with neon tubing similar to the theatre in Panama City.” (The theatre was never named the Ritz.)
The Port Theatre opened June 20, 1938. Admission was 10 cents and 25 cents for the lower floor, and 10 cents and 15 cents for balcony seats. The building was cooled by a very large fan that pulled air through a water spray system. From the beginning, a wide variety of shows took place in the theatre. The first show was Follies Tropical with a cast of 35. On August 13 the year it opened a Lucky Buck Auction was held in the theatre with manager Bill Turner as the auctioneer. Barn dances, Halloween Spook Shows, Toy Matinees at Christmas were all held in the Port Theatre.
Tom Parker worked as a projectionist at the theatre and recalls, “Every day for 20 minutes before we started the show we would play music on the house sound system. The records were old 78rpms with tunes like “In the Mood,” “Jersy Bounce,” “We’ll Git It,” “Dear Mr. Gable” (Judy Garland) and “I had the Craziest Dream.” Owners Wade and Paula Clark have begun restoring the theatre while retaining the integrity of the original materials wherever possible. Click on the photos below to view some other views of the Port Theatre in 2006
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