JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville could soon see another independent movie theater shuttered.
The historic Sun-Ray Cinema in 5 Points could be closing, according to an update the business shared in a social media post, which has received hundreds of comments.
Sun-Ray’s post on Tuesday raised questions and concerns surrounding the future of the nearly 100-year-old cinema, particularly following the closure last year of the historic San Marco Theatre.
According to the Facebook post, the 5 Points theater on Park Street could face closure because its landlord is looking to sell the property to a Georgia-based company -- which has not extended a new lease to the cinema.
“The sale isn’t complete but we’ve not received any offers to continue our lease once the building is purchased,” the post reads. “We had one meeting with the potential buyers from Atlanta back in January and never heard from them again.”
The cinema said its attempts to purchase the theater portion of the building were also turned down.
A website created in support of Sun-Ray said a developer wants to bulldoze the cinema and “turn it into a parking garage or a virtual golf course,” according to a partition website to “Save Sun-Ray.”
Despite the website’s statement regarding the cinema possibly becoming the new home of a parking garage, Sun-Ray took to its Instagram page to address the claim. “The building isn’t going to be a parking garage,” the company posted.
The reality of the building being torn down is unlikely. The Florida Times-Union reported that the building Sun-Ray Cinema is currently in has a historic designation and can’t be torn down without approval from the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission.
The cinema has been open since 1927 and was the first movie theater in Florida to show talking pictures.
City Councilman Jimmy Peluso weighed in on social media, posting that the news hit him “like a ton of bricks.” Peluso said he’s alarmed that 5 Points could lose a major icon that makes the neighborhood special.
“I’ve been speaking with the owners, property owners & other merchants to see how we got here,” he wrote. “If I can fix this, I will.”
The business is urging supporters to send an email to the owner to save the cinema. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the campaign had more than 1,500 signatures, the Times-Union reported.
“Sun-Ray is located inside the sole remaining historic first-run movie theater in Jacksonville and we must save it,” the website said.
Click here to sign the petition.
Note: The bottom of the website asking for support stated that the “action alert was created by the Save Sun-Ray campaign and has no affiliation with Sun-Ray Cinema nor does [it] have any authority to speak or act on behalf of the theater or its employees.”