Historic Preservation Award for the Helen Stairs Theatre

Historic Preservation Award for the Helen Stairs Theatre

Helen Stairs Theatre Historic Preservation Award

Sanford (Fla.)

Buildings--Florida

Performing Arts--United States

Theater--20th Century

Historic sites--Conservation and restoration--Florida

Historic sites--Florida

Historic preservation--Florida

The Sanford Historic Trust's Historic Preservation Award presented to the Helen Stairs Theatre in 2000. Originally the Milane Theatre, the building was constructed at 203 South Magnolia Avenue in Sanford, the former location of the Star Theatre, an abandoned movie house. Scroggs and Ewing, architects from Georgia, prepared the plans for the Milane. The name of the new theater was derived from the combination of the presidents of the Milane Amusement Company president and vice president: Frank L. Miller and Edward F. Lane. The Milane opened in July of 1923 and seated 823 patrons. In 1933, the Milane was sold to Frank and Stella Evans, investors from Lake Mary, Florida. The new owners renamed their business the Ritz Theatre and held the property until the 1990s. However, the Ritz struggled financially in the 1960s and closed in 1978 due to failure to compete with the new multiplex theaters. The building remained vacant until 1984, when it reopened as the Showtime Cantina. The Showtime Cantina closed in 1988 and remained vacant and in decay. In the mid-1990s, Ritz Community Theater Projects, Inc. acquired the property and began rehabilitation in 1998. On May 6, 2000, the theater reopened as the Helen Stairs Theatre in honor of the citizen who led the restoration project, Helen Stairs. The following year, the location was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2008, additional renovations were completed at the theater was renamed the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center in honor of the Wayne Densch Charitable Trust Fund for contributing to the renovations fund.

Cepero, Laura

Original color digital image by Laura Cepero, June 9, 2011.

2011-06-09

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1 color digital image

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Helen Stairs Theatre, Sanford, Florida

Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, Sanford, Florida

28.810527, -81.266859

28.810527, -81.266859

1994-01-01/2000-12-31

2008-01-01/2011-06-09

Item Creation

History Teacher

Cepero, Laura

"Helen Stairs Theatre." StageClick. http://www.stageclick.com/venue/457.aspx.

Sanford: Our First 125 Years. Sanford, Florida: Seminole Herald, 2002.

"Theater History." Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center. http://www.wdpac.com/footer-menu/theater-history/.

"Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center." Seminole County: Florida's Natural Choice. http://www.visitseminole.com/things-to-do/general/wayne-densch-performing-arts-center.

203 MAGNOLIA AVE.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD
CIRCA 1923

THE RITZ RESTORATION BOARD PROUDLY DEDICATES AND GIVES TO THE PEOPLE OF SEMINOLE COUNTY AND SANFORD
THE HELEN STAIRS THEATRE
(FORMERLY THE RITZ)

OFFICERS
PRESIDENT HELEN STAIRS, CHARTER MEMBER
VICE PRESIDENT DAVID SCOTT
SECRETARY DR. BEVERLY BAIRD BOOTHE, CHARTER MEMBER
TREASURER MARTHA M. BEERS

BOARD MEMBERS
KAY BARTHOLOMEW, CHARTER MEMBER
BILL BARWICK
DR. KAREN COPP, CHARTER MEMBER
FRAN B. CUTHBERTSON
MAYOR LARRY DALE
CAREY FERRELL
CAROL KIRCHHOFF, CHARTER MEMBER
DONNA L. MUNIZ
BOB PARSELL
RON ROSE
TOBY TROUTMAN
JIM WEINBERG

ADVISORY
CATHERINE BOSSERT
ED BOSSERT
RICHARD COLEGROVE
GERALD GROSS
BYRON RAMBO
PAT SOUTHWARD
KARL STAIRS
ANDREW VANGAALE
MARTHA YANCEY

GERALD GROSS, ARCHITECHT

PEOPLE MAKE THINGS HAPPEN TROUGH A COMMON VISION, A DEFINED GOAL AND A KIND, GENEROUS AND COOPERATIVE SPIRIT. THE RESTORATION PROJECT STANDS AS A SYMBOL OF ALL THESE VIRTUES.
1994-1999

HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD
SANFORD HISTORIC TRUST

1 color digital image