Jacksonville, Fl — It’s a resurrection of a cultural institution in Jacksonville Beach.
14 months after fire and water damaged Players by the Sea, the theater is back open with a new performance starting Friday night.
“The fire shot straight up, burning either side. The sprinklers came on and effectively put out the fire. It’s just they continued to do their job for 12 consecutive hours.”, said executive director Bradley Akers, who led a tour of dignitaries and donors on Tuesday morning.
Players by the Sea Board President Delvin Wynn remembers the moment she first heard about the fire.
“Walking in 14 months ago to the day and seeing how destroyed it was, and we really didn’t have a whole lot of hope.”, Wynn said.
But the community stepped up.
One donor, Holly Gutshall, has been a regular at Players by the Sea. She was on stage for the opening of the theater in 1999.
“We had a hard hat party in this space when it was converted from Skatearama. We turned it into a theater, and so we’ve been going in this theater for 27 years. This is just an organization with a lot of heart, and this building has a lot of heart.”, said Gutshall.
Board President Devlin Wynn says the flooding damage totaled at least $650,000, paid through insurance, donors, and community support. The silver lining, Wynn says, is the codes are now fully up to date.
The stage is now set for a triumphant return. Violet opens this Friday through June 28th.
“It really is the heartbeat of our community.”, said Gutshall.
▶ Listen to Jacksonville’s Morning News Interviews
[ Read more local news from WOKV ]
Click here to download our free news, weather and traffic app. And click here to subscribe to our daily 3 Big Things newsletter.