Merritt Cinema I & II
680 N. Courtenay Parkway,
Merritt Island,
FL
32952
680 N. Courtenay Parkway,
Merritt Island,
FL
32952
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Opened on July 22nd, 1965.
Merritt Theatre opening 22 Jul 1965, Thu Orlando Evening Star (Orlando, Florida) Newspapers.com
The December 13, 1965 issue of Boxoffice said that the new Merritt Theatre at Merritt Island had opened recently. It was the first business opened in a new shopping center still under construction. A small photo showed a boxy, curtain-wall auditorium with acoustical tile ceiling, typical of the period. No architect was credited, but the building was owned by Universal Builders and Contractors, so presumably a speculative venture leased to the theater operator.
A post on a Merritt Island community page at Facebook says that the Merritt Twin Cinemas is now the location of the East Coast Christian Center, a church founded in 1985. The Church’s web site says they bought the abandoned and vandalized Merritt Twin that year, and indicates that the current sanctuary is the old theater building, though it has been much altered. The Church is at 680 N. Courtenay Parkway.
When it reopened as a twin it was operated by General Cinemas Corporation. From the ad just uploaded by rivest266 it can be located on North Courtenay Parkway.
June 8th, 1973 grand opening ad as a twin in photo section.