Orpheum Theatre

Pontotoc Street and E. Lake Avenue,
Auburndale, FL 33823

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Additional Info

Previous Names: Princess Ariana Theatre, Park Theatre

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The Princess Ariana Theatre was the first movie theater in Auburndale. It was in a large wood-frame building on the corner of East Lake Avenue and Pontotoc Street. In March 1929 it was renamed Park Theatre. This building later housed a hardware store, then a fabric store. It was demolished in the 1980’s and the space was made into a parking lot.

Contributed by John Coursey

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 15, 2023 at 1:56 am

Here is a missing aka for this house, noted in the April 6, 1929 issue of Motion Picture News: “H. E. MOORE and B. E. Darby bought the Ariana, Auburndale, Fla., and re-opened it under the name of the Park. To inaugurate opening they gave free show Friday night.” The theater returned to the name Ariana at some point, as that was the only theater name listed at Auburndale in the 1933 FDY. The house was listed as closed that year though.

And then the name Park Theater returned to Auburndale, but I haven’t been able to determine if it was in the same building. An article about the opening of the new Auburn Theatre in the December 11, 1948 issue of Boxoffice mentions “[t]he Park, opened by Maurice E. Hensler 14 years ago….” The old house would remain open, but only four days a week, the item said.

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