Have a news tip for us?
Just email . Ideas for stories, links to interesting articles, and press releases are welcome.
Theatre for sale needs restoration!
posted by
Sarahspencer
on
July 16, 2007 at 3:45 pm
INVERNESS, FL — The 228 seat Valerie Theatre built in 1925 is for sale with the owners hoping for someone to lovingly restore it.
It sits in a wonderfully busy historic downtown district with the ability to become a myriad of businesses.The roof and tongue-in-groove ceiling have recently been replaced,the original theatre seats are stacked on the stage and available for use. The building is double brick construction and is sound with two bathrooms,city water and sewer.
It has been closed since 1988 and is now being used for storage. Call Sarah Spencer at 1-800-476-2590 for more information.
Comments (6)
In the late 70’s I used to go to this theater when I went to visit my friend. I remember that had great curtains that went up, but no masking. When the Citrus 6 opened it put a damper on this theatre.
I tried calling the number, it doesnt work. Do you have an email address?
To contact me directly My e mail address is .com or an office number is 352-726-5855.
Sarah, My husband and I have been dreaming for years of restoring and running a theater to play ‘old’ movies (no younger than 20-25 years). In a wonderful coincidence, we recently moved to Inverness. Do you have a feel of whether the city would be open to this idea? Personally I feel it would be great with so much of an older generation living here. Thank you for your help. – Emily Manning
Emily,
Needless to say since I have listed the theatre there has been MUCH talk of what people would love to see there.The owner had purchased it for just that reason!If it was sitting anywhere but the downtown area I don’t think it would have as great of a response as it would there. The foot traffic downtown is always busy even when the rest of Inverness is not.We have such a large older population looking for entertainment and actually driving to Tampa,Ocala, or Orlando just to find something interesting to do.Using it additionally for stage shows,meetings,pagents,“catered in” mystery dinner shows, etc. etc. etc. You could also utilize the front of the building for some type of retail store to draw in even more revenue!There have been a couple theatre groups looking for somewhere to stage their live shows also!! Please let me know if I can be of any assistance to further your quest!!! Sarah Spencer
It think the theatre would be a great place to start a business that would bring in customers from all over the county. Its a piece of history and we should treat it like loyalty. It shouldn’t remain unseen. A lot of buildings have been demolished because of being left alone.