ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. - A Bay Area family is giving a historic theater in St. Pete Beach a second act. The Beach Theatre on Corey Ave. opened its doors in January 1940 as the first cinema in Pinellas County with sound and air conditioning.
"It’s an 84-year-old art deco theater. That’s so cool. I mean how many of those are even out there anymore," said Hannah Hockman, the theater's new director.
In 2012, its owner suddenly passed away, and the theater has been closed ever since. A nonprofit purchased the property in 2021 and made some progress in renovating the building.
"So we actually tried to get the Beach Theatre back in 2021 when it went on the market, and we were the second runners-up," Hockman said.
PREVIOUS: Vacant St. Pete Beach movie theater gets second act
The nonprofit passed the torch to Hockman and her parents, Ron and Sissy, last February.
"Theater has always been around me growing up. My parents have always taken me to the theater as a kid. We always appreciated it," she said.
Hannah is just 25 years old, but has had a passion for live theater her whole life.
"I grew up in Tampa, went to school over there and then I came out to St. Pete Beach at Eckard College for four years," she said. "It’s been crazy. I’ve always wanted to do this. I’ve always wanted to be a director or producer of live theater, and we always wanted that place to be the beach."
Those dreams came true this month, when the family got permit approvals to begin work on the historic property.
"We walked in and there were movie posters everywhere. We opened the door, and the movie theaters fell out of the door. I mean it was crazy," Hockman said.
Demo work began last week.
"We're going to honor the history by doing an art deco architecture inspired by the colors of sea glass to give it that St. Pete Beach touch.," she said.
Hannah said the theater will feature second-run films and old classics.
"We're going to add a nice new stage so that we can have some live theater and concerts here as well," she said. "We’re going to have 175 seats that will keep that movie theater slope and then be able to do movies and live events there."
The family said it's rewarding to hear the memories people have made over the years at the theater.
"It is so meaningful to me that I’m able to do this with my family. I mean we love this place," Hockman said.
Hannah said the family will launch a nonprofit called The Beach Theatre Initiative sometime next week.
The Beach Theatre is slated to reopen in March 2025. For more information, click here.
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