JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The sun has set on the beloved Sun-ray Cinema in Five Points, but the venue will not be dormant for long.
Just days after the final movie played on the theater’s big screen to a sold-out audience, the new owners of the venue announced big plans for the space.
Union South Partners, the space’s new owners, are planning $2 million in renovations, and Nashville-based Marathon Live plans to open a new live music venue inside the building.
It will be called FIVE and is scheduled to open in January.
Until now, the building has operated as a theater on and off since 1927, and many said they will miss watching movies there.
“It was frustrating, upsetting,” Jake Roselle said of the theater’s closing. “But, you know, some things have to change so that we can have some things that, you know, keep the city moving, so it is what it is.”
RELATED: Community pours out final goodbyes as Sun-Ray set to close its doors Saturday
The company behind the new live music venue is also working on a new shared office space in the Rail Yard District called the Workshop at Dennis + Ives.
It will offer flexible workspace options.
In the meantime, Five Points Cinema, which ran Sun-Ray, is looking for a new home, potentially in downtown Jacksonville.