Florida Theatre Joins the Save Our Stages Campaign

The Florida Theatre is joining the National Independent Venue Association's "Save Our Stages" campaign, Jacksonville Business Journal reports.

The campaign is seeking additional Small Business Administration grants for independently owned venues affected by the health crisis. The grant offer at least six months of financial support.

"People ask me, 'Why should I support the Florida Theatre? It's just a rock concert, that doesn't mean anything to us,'" said Numa Saisselin, president of the Florida Theatre. "One reason is jobs. On an annual basis, the Florida Theatre does about 175 performances a year, and we serve about 170,000 people a year. Every time someone comes to a show, they spend money with us and they spend money elsewhere, and that creates work."

The theatre's annual contribution to the local economy is equivalent to 400 full time jobs, $10 million in household income and around $1 million in state and local taxes.

Saisselin also said that the assistance the theatre has already received, including the Paycheck Protection Program and SBA loans, will only last until the end of the year.

"We've been able to cobble all that together into enough financing to get us through the end of November or December, at this point," she said. "After that, it's a big question mark again, because we just don't know when we'll open again."

Read more on the Jacksonville Business Journal.