POLK THEATRE
Lakeland,Florida

Polk Theatre in Lakeland, Florida was built in 1928 as a
vaudeville-movie palace, this was befor the haze of the stock market crash
or WWII . The population at this time was mostly rural with about 15,000 residents in
the surrounding area.
The theatre was the idea of John E.Melton who had planned a Polk County first, a multi-
purpose building ancored by a grand movie palace, it was to have a street front office and
retail space to help bring in revenue needed in the building of the theatre, Mr Melton ran into trouble
 during the time of borrowing the money, it was a large sum to borrow during those times, so he had to sell his 
unfinished portian to the Publix Theatre Coorporation, this company proceded to build this building, they
brought in an Italian-born immagrant architect and he recreated an Italian courthouse theme with balconies,
little niches and windows to conclude his theme making it look like one was sitting outside under the open sky,
it also included a deep blue night sky with twinkling stars, a full scale renaissance creation done indoors.
It was called an " atmospheric theatre "
During its several years of existance the Polk Theatre has held several events in its house,including,
magic acts and in the 1930's a Charlie Chaplin impersonation contest, also held what was called
Bank Night also know as Screeno, a form of lottery where the contestant could win large sums of cash
as a reward.
What I remember most as a child was RC bottle cap day- this was where a child could bring in and
watch a movie for 6 RC bottle caps, also included was a drawing for a prize where the tickets
 would be found in a box of candy or treats for the drawing of which a bike was given away.
Through the years the Polk Theatre has gone through many changes to survive,in the 80's a group
 of concerned citizens banded together to help save the theatre for ending- they formed a non-profit
group- borrowed money and got grants from the state of Florida and purchased the theatre for 300,000.00.
 It continues to survive today through grants, the revenue from the films shown and donations.

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page composed by: Peggy McSwain