The Vero Theatre (also known as the Florida Theatre or Theatre Plaza) is a historic theater in Vero Beach, Florida. Located at 2036 14th Avenue, the Vero Theatre was designed in the Mediterranean Revival style by architect F.H. Trimble. It opened on October 14, 1924 as the city's first motion picture theater with its first feature film being the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The theatre became the center of the fight to remove Indian River from St. Lucie County as a result of local blue laws prohibiting Sunday film viewing. Governor John W. Martin created Indian River County in the theatre in May 1925. On April 28, 1992, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Theatre closed in 1985 when other multiplex theatres opened nearby. The last film shown was Desperately Seeking Susan.
The building is currently vacant, though there have been numerous attempts made to renovate the structure. The last attempt at renovation was done by developer Robert L. Brackett. His attempts were halted by the storms of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season.
Famous quotes containing the word theatre:
“Compare ... the cinema with theatre. Both are dramatic arts. Theatre brings actors before a public and every night during the season they re-enact the same drama. Deep in the nature of theatre is a sense of ritual. The cinema, by contrast, transports its audience individually, singly, out of the theatre towards the unknown.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)