Florida Theatre Will Undergo Seating Renovations This Year

The Florida Theatre is taking its time of closure to do some renovations, WJCT reports. The theatre will remove all existing seats from 1983, and replace them with wider, more comfortable seats by Irwin Seating. This will reduce the current capacity of 1,918 by 100.

The renovation was originally scheduled for this summer but was pushed back to 2021. However, with the indefinite closure, the theatre moved the renovations back up to 2020.

In addition to the seating changes, aisle lighting will be increased upstairs and downstairs, and handrails will be added in the balcony. The new balcony seats will have a slimmer seat bottom to give patrons more leg room.

The theatre will also double its wheelchair accessible seating options.

The theatre is selling its current seats for $50 each, plus an additional $50 for each cast iron aisle end. They are being sold "as is" and may require reassembly or parts. Orders must be placed and paid for by Monday, August 10, at 9 a.m. and the seats must be picked up by Thursday, August 13, by 5 p.m.

In addition, donors can purchase name plaques on the new seats via the Adopt-A Seat program. Seats names in the orchestra and the loge are $1,000 each, and seats in the balcony are $500 each. The plaques will remain in place for the lifetime of the new seats.

Read more on WJCT.