Kendall Barsin, director of marketing for the Florida Theatre, says with the kickoff of the new season coming up, the theater’s employees are all staying busy making sure everything is in place and ready to go.
The theater kicks off its season Sept. 21 with the much anticipated Smokey Robinson performance.
The Florida Theater has been an entertainment and social center since 1927. It’s recognized as one of the finest venues in the Southeast and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In an attempt to keep its distinct and wonderful reputation up, the theater is currently undergoing renovations. The first half of the renovations involves repainting the ceiling. So far, this task alone has taken 10 painters and 70 feet of scaffolding.
Another part of the renovation process is the polishing and cleaning of the theater’s marble which Barsin says is also currently taking place.
And then there’s the carpeting that will also be ripped out and replaced. All of these tasks are to be completely finished by the kickoff of the new season. These are pretty daunting tasks when you consider the time left for completion is less than a month.
But Barsin is confident that everything will come together and get finished on time.
She’s also excited to unveil the renovations and the large contributions which, she says, are necessary to keep the theater’s livelihood going.
“Despite the budget cuts and changes, we’ll still continue to give good programs, because I know the community will rally together,” she says.
Barsin has only been living in Jacksonville since 2001 but already has a deep connection to the city.
“One of my favorite things about Downtown is all the hidden spots,” Barsin says.
Though she enjoys the hidden gems and places Downtown, there’s no way she wants The Florida Theatre to fit that bill.
“We always want to make sure people are aware it exists,” she says. “This is Jacksonville’s best venue.”